What's Written in Stone
by lunettawolf321
Summary: From the time she woke up in an orphanage at the age of five, nothing has gone right for Allia. Now with her past being slowly revealed to her, Allia's finally understanding everything, even why she doesn't belong. Series through OC POV. Rated for safety (No OC pairings. Relatively Canon) (We're almost at the dark tournament now!)
1. Chapter 1

**LOOK AT ME!**

**LOOK AT ME!**

**So I've COMPLETELY redone the first chapter of this story. I wasn't happy with, even after I fixed it the first time. So, hopefully, this one is better then the last one. I've added a little more background story to Allia, so its important that you reread. Well I don't want to take up too much of your time, so get to reading!**

**Disclaimer:I do not own anything Yu Yu Hakusho related, nor do I own anything by Yellowcard, though I must admit I wouldn't mind having either :)**

_Broken this fragile thing now, and I can't, I can't pick up the pieces. And I've thrown my words all around. But I can't, I can't give you a reason. (Yellowcard: Only One)_

A small ray of sunshine shone through a tear in the flimsy curtains hanging over the tiny bedroom window. Its warm light danced around the room and across the face of a very petite, pretty girl. The girl twitched in her sleep and then rolled over, trying to escape the unwanted disturbance. Her long black hair was splayed across her pillows, a few strands dangling over the edge of the bed.

This girl is actually the protagonist of our story, and her name is Allia Sanders.

A clocked ticked from its place on a table beside her bed, signaling just how late in the morning it was becoming. And still the girl slept.

This was very out of character for Allia. She was the kind of person who craved routine. Her day was always planned out perfectly, and it was always the same. Breakfast, shower, and school during the day. Arcade, dinner, and homework at night. Allia almost never deviated from her schedule, unless her delinquent best friend Yusuke Urameshi forced her to. Allia swore that Fate was out to get her, and she needed her schedule to protect herself.

Ah, Fate. If the young Allia Sanders is the protagonist of our story, then Fate is our sadistic and ever-present antagonist.

Allia thought that she must have done something to Fate in another life, because there was no other reason it would be so against her. Even from the young age of five, Allia was terribly unlucky. Her fist memory was of waking up on the doorstep of a small orphanage. Her clothes were burnt in places and her skin and hair smelled like smoke. When the middle-aged woman who ran the orphanage found her, Fate saw to it that her rescue would not go smoothly. The woman did not speak any English, and Allia didn't understand a word of Japanese. Thankfully, Luck took pity on her that day. A young woman who went by the name Miss Robyn had just started work at the orphanage. Miss Robyn was American, and she was the only worker at the time who could understand what Allia was saying. Upon seeing the state the little girl was in, she gathered her in her arms and rushed Allia to the hospital. Fate did not stop there though. When asked about her parents or any other family in the area, Allia realized she couldn't remember anything besides her own name. Fearing something traumatic may have robbed the young girl of her family and her memories, Miss Robyn took Allia back to the orphanage, and that is where she had stayed until now.

Allia twitched in her sleep again, and burrowed her body deeper into the covers on her bed. By now, Allia should have been dressed and ready to meet her and Yusuke's friend Keiko for school. Instead, she was wrapped tightly in a ball under her covers, blissfully unaware of how late she was.

The reason for Allia's lateness was actually her best friend, Yusuke Urameshi. Allia and Yusuke had met when they were ten years old in a park near the orphanage Allia grew up in. After getting off to a rocky start, the two soon became best friends and had been inseparable since. That is, until a few months ago, when Yusuke took off with no other warning besides a quickly scribbled goodbye on the back of her grocery list. Allia had never been more pissed at Yusuke. She probably would have gone to hunt his ass down if not for the promise to call her when he got the chance written at the bottom of his note.

So Allia kept her faith in Yusuke, hoping Yusuke wouldn't break his promise. And he didn't. After a few months of being MIA, Yusuke called. Unfortunately, Fate saw that as the perfect time to attack. Because the orphanage Allia had lived in was so small, Miss Robyn had found a tiny apartment that Allia could stay in. As long as Allia kept her grades up and went to see Miss Robyn once a week, she was allowed to live on her own in the apartment. So on the night Yusuke called, Allia was no where near her home. She was at Miss Robyn's house, eating dinner with the woman she thought of as family, trying to keep her absent best friend off her mind. Yusuke left a message on Allia's answering machine, apologizing for running off without an explanation and promising her that he would see her soon. When Allia got home and heard the message, she barely resisted yanking the machine out of the wall and hurling it into the street. Since then, Allia had been staying up late each night, hoping that Yusuke would call again so she could finally speak to him. Finally, at almost three in the morning, Allia had crawled, defeated, into bed. And there she still laid, tangled in her covers, ignoring the soft ticking of her clock as the morning dragged on.

YYH*YYH*YYH*YYH

Yusuke Urameshi sighed loudly as he kicked a rock up along the sidewalk in front of him. He was going to be killed. And it wasn't even going to be by some big, ugly, power-hungry demon bent on world domination. No, the person to rid the world of the spirit detective was a short, black-haired girl with a temper that could outmatch Genkai's. Said girl also happened to be Yusuke's best friend.

"Not that I could blame her for wanting to kill me..." he muttered as he kicked the pebble even further up the street. Yusuke was one of the few people Allia really trusted. And he'd practically stomped that trust into the ground when he'd taken off to Genkai's temple, leaving Allia without anymore notice then a half-ass note he'd stuck to her fridge with one of those cheap plastic number magnets.

Yusuke sighed again. He could already tell; Allia was going to be extremely pissed at him.

He crossed the road over to the street that Allia's apartment was on, trying to come up with an excuse to where he'd been the last few months. He knew he couldn't tell Allia about Rando or the Four Saint Beasts. _Not that she'd believe me anyway,_ he thought. Finally, he made it to Allia's apartment building. It was an older building with dirty walls and peeling paint on the doors. He let out one final sigh, and walked in.

Yusuke walked down the hall to Allia's front door. He turned the knob, knowing how often Allia forgot to lock it, and stepped inside. He was expecting to see her in her tiny kitchen with its bright yellow walls and tile floor, washing her dishes from breakfast before leaving for school. So he was very shocked to see her apartment still quiet and dark. Yusuke immediately tensed and crept further into the house, worried something was wrong.

"Al?" he whispered, his voice sounding loud in the silent room. Yusuke glanced into the kitchen and bathroom, trying to find his friend. Finally, heart pounding in his chest from worry, Yusuke swung the door open and walked into the bedroom.

One look into the room and Yusuke nearly passed out. There lay Allia, completely tangled in her covers with her hair fanning out around her in every direction, hugging the stuffing out of the body pillow he'd gotten her for her birthday. Yusuke was sure steam was coming out of his ears he was so mad. He'd thought something bad had happened! He reached forward to shake her awake, but stopped himself as his hand neared her shoulder. _Why is she still asleep? _He wondered. Allia practically worshiped the schedule she made for herself everyday. It was something Yusuke teased her about constantly. No matter how much he joked though, Allia almost always refused to not follow her routine. She was convinced something bad would happen to her if she didn't. Because of this, Allia was _always_ up for school at the same time everyday. She would never sleep in this late. Shaking his head at his friend, (and also fearing her reaction to being late would mix with her anger towards him and cause an apocalypse) Yusuke walked over to her closet and pulled out her uniform and shoes. He carefully laid her uniform at the edge of her bed and set her shoes down on the floor. Yusuke then grabbed the alarm clock from the bedside table and set it to go off in a few minutes. After one final glance at his sleeping friend, Yusuke tiptoed out of the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen, hoping to find something Allia could eat for breakfast on the way to school.

YYH*YYH*YYH*YYH

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnn ngggg! _Allia flew across the bed and slammed her hand down, silencing the maker of that atrocious noise. Grumbling, and rubbing her now sore hand, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"I do _not _want to go to school today..." she mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Today was going to be a bad day. Allia could just _feel _it, and her feelings had never been wrong before.

Fate, apparently, had decided that her bad day was going to start sooner then even she could imagine. As Allia slid off the bed, shivering a little as her bare feet touched the cold floor, she glanced at her clock. A tiny yelp escaped her lips as she realized just how late it was. _School's starts in half an hour!_ Allia turned and went running towards her closet. As she ran her foot caught something, causing her to come crashing down on the floor. Swearing, she grabbed her sore toe and looked to see what she could have tripped over. There, laying on the floor beside her bed, was her school shoes. Allia reached over and picked one up. She was sure she hadn't left them there last night. Allia looked up at her bed. Hanging off the edge was the skirt for her school uniform. Allia picked herself up off the floor, grabbed her clothes, and ran into the bathroom to dress as quickly as possible.

Allia stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later, trying to ignore her growling stomach. She knew there wouldn't be any time to grab some breakfast before leaving for school. As she made to grab her bag from her bedroom, a voice from the kitchen startled her.

"Damn Al, took you long enough." Allia froze. She knew that voice. She just hadn't heard it in months. Allia stepped into the kitchen, eyes wide, and saw her best friend, Yusuke, putting something back into her refrigerator. He turned around and handed her a small plastic bag.

"I made you breakfast. Come on, Keiko will kill us if were late."

YYH*YYH*YYH*YYH

Allia sighed as she sat down in her final class of the day. She felt so guilty. Yusuke had been kind enough to make sure she got to school on time, and yet she hadn't been even been able to muster up the courage to thank him. She was angry at Yusuke, but she was so happy to see him again. She wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to scream at him or hug him. Allia sighed again as she flipped through the pages of her Algebra book. As she studied the page she realized with a small smile that she already knew this. Allia had made it a habit to try and be a lesson or two ahead in all her classes. That way, when Yusuke would drag her away to skip school with him for the day, she wouldn't fall behind. Allia covered a yawn with her hand. She looked up at her teacher. _It wouldn't be so bad if I took a nap..._ she thought. She had stayed awake pretty late last night. She glanced at her teacher again, and then laid her head down onto the open pages of her text book...

Allia could hear giggling beside her ear. _Damnit...I hope I'm not drooling.. _she thought. Allia tried to sneakily wipe her mouth on the sleeve of her shirt. The laughter grew even louder. Sighing angrily at whoever was disturbing her nap, she slowly lifted her head up from the book she'd been using as a pillow. It was suffocatingly hot in the classroom. Allia looked around to the other students in the room. Those close to her were giggling and whispering to each other. A boy in front of her stood up, pointing towards the front of the room, and shouted "Kill them!" Laughter erupted from almost everyone in the classroom. Allia looked around the boy in bewilderment. What she saw, or more like _who _she saw, standing at the front of the classroom nearly made her heart stop beating.

Yusuke stood there, hands tied behind his back, his face shrouded in shadows. Three other boys were standing up there with him. One Allia recognized to be the boy Yusuke loved to torment, Kazuma Kuwabara. The other two, one of them tall with long red hair and the other extremely short with tall, spiky black hair, she had never seen before. All four of them just stood there silently as the student's shout of "Kill them! Kill them!" got even louder.

"It's frightening, isn't it?" A deep voice asked from behind her. Allia twisted around in her seat to see who had spoken. A chill ran down her spine as she looked at the man sitting in the desk behind her. His silver hair was covered in ash and Allia could smell smoke drifting off the man's clothes. He stared at her with blood red eyes, a tiny smirk forming on his face. Allia looked at the gruesome scar running from just under his eye to the bottom of his jaw. His smirk grew bigger as he reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Allia nearly yelped in pain as the searing heat from his fingers touched the sensitive skin behind her ear. He laughed at her.

"Sweet Spirit. How I wish I could see what you see," he whispered. He moved his hand over and gently ran his fingers down the side of her face. Allia gasped in pain as a burning sensation spread across her cheek. She made to jump out of her seat away from this man, but her foot caught on the leg of her desk, sending it and her toppling over onto the floor.

The sudden BANG! from the heavy metal desk hitting the floor caused Allia to jerk awake. A few of her classmates sitting around her jumped out of their seats to help lift her desk off the floor and gather her fallen books. Allia sat up and raised a shaking hand to her face. As she ran her fingers along her cheek where the man in her dream had touched her, she felt a burning pain shoot along her face.

"Ms. Sanders, are you alright?" Her teacher asked walking up to her. Allia swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked around the room. Every person in the room was staring at her. Some were trying to conceal their giggles, while others look at her with concern in their eyes. Allia took a deep, shaking breath, before grabbing her books from the student beside her, standing to her feet, and fleeing out the door.

**I hope this version is better. Review and tell me what you think! See-ya! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here's the second chapter. I hope you like it. Don't forget to reread the first chapter. It's all pretty and fixed and updated!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Yu Yu Hakusho, nor do I own anything by Tablo.**

_Recap: Yusuke returned after disappearing for several weeks. Allia has a very strange and scary nightmare._

_Oh, even if all the tears of the world are welled up in my small eyes, I wish I could shed your tears as well. (Tablo: From The Bottom __밑바닥에서__) _

_Where in the heck is she? _Yusuke thought as he made his way through the hallways in his school. School had finally ended so now Yusuke was searching the crowd of students leaving the building for the familiar tiny frame of his friend Allia. He wanted to find her so he could apologize. Allia was still mad at him for disappearing for several weeks with barely any notice. Yusuke still wasn't sure what he was going to tell her. He couldn't exactly say he'd been gone first hunting down a demon named Rando, then fighting four huge and powerful demons with the help of a boy he used to constantly beat up and two demons he'd just previously arrested. _Not that she'd believe me even if I told her._ Yusuke thought as he poked his head into another classroom, still searching for his friend. Yusuke Urameshi was in fact a spirit detective. It was his job to hunt down demons and protect the world. Unfortunately though, that meant he'd have to lie to one of his closest friends. He couldn't tell her about Spirit World. Koenma would have a fit if he did!

Finally getting tired of having to look through every single classroom, Yusuke decided to stop the next person to pass him.

"Hey. You seen Allia Sanders anywhere?" He asked. A short girl with pigtail braids looked up at him. Yusuke could see the sudden fear in her eyes at being spoken to by him. _Sheesh, it's not like I threatened her or anything. _He thought as he waited for the girl to answer. The girl clutched her school books to herself and sort of shrunk in on herself. Yusuke had the sudden mental image of a frightened turtle hiding itself in its shell. He resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation as the girl finally began to stutter out an answer.

"I-I think she left c-class early." She said, refusing to meet Yusuke's eyes. _What? Why? _ Yusuke thought. Allia was almost as serious about her education as Keiko was. She never would have just ditched class. The only class she ever skipped was P.E and that was only when Yusuke begged her to keep him company while he skipped.

"Why'd she leave early?" He asked the girl. She jumped at the sound of Yusuke's voice and began glancing around as if hoping someone was going to come to her rescue. Yusuke rolled his eyes at the girls ridiculous behavior.

"I'm not sure why. She fell out of her seat in class, then just sorta ran off." The girl said hurriedly. Now she was shifting her glance from Yusuke to the doors leading out of school. _At least the stuttering is gone. _Yusuke thought.

"Thanks." he said. Before turning around and leaving the school himself.

Yusuke figured the best place to start looking for Allia was her apartment. So he headed over there first, all the while trying to figure out what on earth could have made Allia just run out of her class. When Yusuke reached the apartment building he went right in and headed towards the stairs. Taking the rickety steps two at a time he quickly reached the floor Allia's apartment was on. He snatched the spare key she had just for him and Keiko out from its hiding place in the plant beside her door, and let himself in to the apartment. The living room was dimly lit from an old lamp that was crammed in the corner of the room. The small TV sitting in front of the couch was on, but the volume had been turned down so low all Yusuke could hear was a soft mumble. He walked passed the living room and headed into the kitchen. Yusuke resisted the urge to jump for joy when he saw his friend sitting at her small kitchen table.

Allia wrapped her hands around the steaming cup of tea in front of her. "So, you gonna tell me why you ran outta your class today?" Yusuke asked, taking a swig from the can of soda he'd gotten out of the fridge. Allia smiled sheepishly at him.

"So you heard about that did you?" she asked him. She blew on her tea to try and cool it before taking a small sip. "I had another nightmare." She whispered. Yusuke looked at her.

"I thought those stopped a couple months ago?" He sat down beside her.

Allia nervously laughed. "Don't think I'm pathetic or anything, but they sort of started again after you left." Yusuke looked at her guiltily.

"Sorry. I guess I kinda broke my promise, huh?"

_Promise? _Allia wondered. Then it hit her. _When he came back the first time..._

_(Flashback)_

_Allia had been sitting on her couch, wrapped in an old blanket she'd kept from the orphanage she'd grown up in. She knew she should be doing something, cleaning, homework, anything really, but she just couldn't find the motivation. She was still too upset. Her best friend Yusuke Urameshi had died, all because he did something so completely out of character. He'd jumped out in front of a car to save a child. Now Allia new deep down that Yusuke really was a good person, even if he did act like a complete jerk most of the time. But even she had to admit that she never would have expected him to do something so selfless._

"_Big jerk, why'd you half to go and..." A knock on the door interrupted Allia's thoughts. Huffing and the sudden effort she was being forced to use, Allia wrapped the blanket around her tighter and got up to answer the door. She pulled open the door._

"_Hey, Al! Long time, no see huh?" Allia was sure her heart had stopped beating. Or maybe she was dreaming? Yes, that had to be it. There was no other explanation as to why Yusuke Urameshi was standing in her doorway, alive._

"_Y-you're d-dead..." She mumbled._

"_Nah, I'm fine now. So what's up? Wanna go to the arcade or something?" Yusuke said. He had one arm thrown behind his head in a relaxed position as he waited for her answer._

_Go to the arcade? She thought. Is this really... It had to be. Allia looked closely at Yusuke. He had on a t-shirt and his favorite pair of blue jeans. He wasn't transparent like she thought a ghost might be, nor did he have any of the trademark signs of zombies. Allia smiled to herself, her friend was really okay!... But wait...if he wasn't dead, that means I was acting like a crybaby for nothing! Allia dropped the blanket onto the floor and did the only logical thing she could think of. She swung her arm out and slapped Yusuke as hard as she could!_

_Yusuke tripped and fell to the ground in the sudden shock of being hit by his friend. He looked up at her confused, rubbing at his now sore cheek._

"_Don't you ever do something like that again Yusuke Urameshi!" Allia yelled._

"_Like what?" he asked, still sitting on the ground. Why'd all the women in his life have to hit so damn hard?_

"_Leave..." She whispered._

_A sudden look of understanding crossed Yusuke's face. He smiled at her then._

"_Don't worry, I promise I won't"_

_(End Flashback)_

"I'm not a very good friend, am I?" Yusuke asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Shut up Yusuke, your the best." Allia said, punching his arm. Yusuke grinned at her.

"So does this mean I'm forgiven?" He asked, throwing his empty soda can across the room and into the trashcan.

Allia picked up her now empty cup and walked over to the sink. "Well, duh, you idiot." She said.

"Hey! Who you calling an idiot!" Yusuke laughed. Allia turned around, laughing with him.

"So," he said, "you gonna tell me what this nightmare of yours was about?"

Allia thought about it. The man from her dream, with his frightening eyes and hideous face, was still so clear in her mind. And when he'd touched her face, it still felt like it had happened in real life. Allia didn't know if she could just imagine a pain like that. Allia touched the side of her face again. It was still warm. _Too real to be a dream..._ she thought. Allia glanced at Yusuke.

"Nah, It's fine. How about we go to the arcade? I bet I could totally kick your ass at that new Goblin City game." Yusuke grinned

"Ha! I'd like to see you try!" They grabbed their jackets and headed towards the door. Yusuke grabbed Allia's arm before she could reach the doorknob. Allia looked up at him.

"Hey, you'll tell me about it later, right?" he asked.

Allia smiled at him and what she liked to call his 'big brother voice.'

"Sure thing. Now lets go!"

**Well there you go, the second chapter. I'll get started on the next one as soon as I can. See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So here's chapter three. Starting from this point, the story will pretty much be the series from Allia's perspective. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Yu Yu Hakusho. The dialogue I used comes from Episode 22, Which I DO NOT own. I also own nothing of Linkin Park.**

_Recap: Yusuke tracks down Allia after hearing that she ran out of her class. Allia forgives Yusuke for leaving without telling her and then suggests they go to the arcade._

_And I give it all away, just to have somewhere to go to. __Give it all away, to have someone to come home to. (Linkin Park: My December)_

The arcade was probably one of the loudest places a person could go to. The sounds of hands slapping on the buttons, the yells from the characters of the fighting games being played, not to mention the yells from those playing them. Plus the occasional loud melody as a player won or lost their game. The arcade was _definitely _not the place for a person to go if they wanted to concentrate on something other then beating the crap out of their friends player in the latest fighting game. To Yusuke and Allia though, the arcade was useful for one other thing. It was the perfect place to have a private conversation.

It seems silly, to want to talk about anything serious when the person at the game next to you is probably yelling their head off at their person on the screen. In truth though, you'd actually have less of a chance of being eavesdropped on. Who would want to listen to some boring conversation when you could be using an opponent in the game as your own personal punching bag? So there were Yusuke and Allia, sitting at the Goblin City machines, while Yusuke tried not to swear as Allia totally kicked his butt.

"So," he said, glancing over at her, "You gonna tell me about this night mare of yours?"

Allia sighed, as she moved the joystick back and forth. She was playing the Three Sevens game.

"It's stupid..." she said, as she placed three sevens together in a row.

"Must not have been too stupid, since it made you run out of class." Yusuke said. He was playing Battle Heli.

"Ugh, I hate the one you're playing. I can never beat it. My damn helicopter always gets blown up." Allia said, looking over at Yusuke's machine.

"Stop avoiding the subject." he said smirking. Allia stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to her own machine.

"You were in it." she said quietly.

"What?" Yusuke said a little louder as one of the turrets his player was flying around blew up, "I was in it?"

"Yea, you and that friend of yours. What's his name, Kazuma Kuwabara?" Allia leaned a little closer to the machine as the blocks began to fall a little faster.

"Kuwabara was in your dream?" Yusuke asked. He gave a little shout of victory as he blew up the enemy's helicopter.

"Yea, which is weird since I'm pretty sure I haven't even met the guy. I've only seen him like once, and that was when I had to get you to stop beating him up so you wouldn't be late for class."

"You and Keiko love to ruin my fun..." Yusuke muttered. Allia gave him a little shove, "Hey! No cheating!" he yelled, laughing.

"It gets weirder. In the dream I had my head on the desk trying to sleep. Which I had been doing in real life, by the way. Then I hear all this laughter and yelling. So I lift my head up and there you two are standing with these two other boys."

"What boys?" Yusuke asked as he waited for his next game to start. He groaned as he realized it was the Battle Quiz game.

"That's where it starts to get weirder. I've never even _seen_ those boys before. And I'm sure I'd remember them. One of them was really tall and had this _long _red hair."

"Sure it was a boy?" Yusuke interrupted, glancing over at Allia.

"Yea...I'm pretty sure. And the other boy was really short, shorter then me I think, if that's even possible. He had spiky black hair."

_Sounds like she's talking about Hiei and Kurama... _Yusuke thought. He looked over at Allia again. Her grip had tightened on the joystick and her other hand was shaking a little. _Man, this dream must have really freaked her out._

"After I realized it was you who was standing up there, I finally heard what everyone else in the classroom was saying. They were shouting 'Kill them, kill them' while they pointed and laughed at the four of you. It was so scary. And then I heard this voice behind me. It said 'it's frightening, isn't it?'. So I turned around and this guy was standing behind me. He was so..._hideous. _He had these big red eyes and he was really tall and he had this gross looking scar that went all the way from his eye down to his chin. He said something else to me then, but I can't remember what it was. Then he touched my face and all of a sudden it felt like my skin was on fire... that's when I fell out of my seat and knocked my stuff all over the place. Everyone was staring at me, and the dream had seemed so real. I just sort of panicked and ran out of the classroom." Allia jumped a little when the game signaled her victory. She sighed and turned towards Yusuke. "I guess it sounds kind of silly for me to be so freaked out about something like that, huh?"

Yusuke shook his head. "No, not really," then he smiled at Allia, "but hey, now you don't have to worry anymore."

Allia looked at him questioningly. Yusuke laughed. "You said your nightmares started after I left, right? Well now I'm back so you don't have to worry about it!" Allia laughed with him.

"Speaking of you being back," she said, "mind telling me where you've been these past couple months?"

Yusuke stopped laughing. "Sorry Al. I can't"

Allia looked at Yusuke. She was a little mad, which was understandable since her best friend since forever was refusing to say where he'd disappeared to. "Fine. I know you Yusuke, and if you say you can't tell me something... then you must have a damn good reason why you can't."

Yusuke smiled. A sudden noise from Yusuke's machine told them both he'd lost the game. Allia laughed. "Told you I'd beat you!"

The next morning Allia was walking up to Yusuke's apartment (completely on schedule, she was proud to admit). She covered her mouth as she yawned hugely. She figured it would take at least ten minutes to get Yusuke out of bed, making them both late, which would make it the perfect chance to race to school. As Allia neared his door, she heard the unmistakable sound of Yusuke's mother, Atsuko, yelling.

"Get out of bed, you're going to be late, _again!_" Allia heard. She watched as Yusuke walked out the door yawning. Atsuko then appeared at the doorway, and threw Yusuke's school bag to him, hitting him right on the head. Allia laughed and called out to Yusuke's mom.

"Morning, Atsuko!" Atsuko looked over at the sound of her name and smiled.

"Morning Allia, make sure he gets to school for me, will ya?" Allia nodded and waved goodbye as Atsuko disappeared back into the apartment.

"Sup?" Yusuke asked, rubbing his now sore head. Allia smiled.

"Up for a little morning exercise?"

Allia and Yusuke took off at a run towards the school, Allia trailing just a little behind him. _Wow, he's gotten a lot faster_. She thought. As they ran, Allia thought she could sense something moving along beside them. Her suspicions were confirmed as suddenly what appeared to be a young boy in all black landed in front of them. Yusuke and Allia stopped running. _Could it be..._ Allia wondered. _It is!_ Allia was shocked when she finally recognized this boy as one of the boys from her nightmare. _Something's off about him though... _

Yusuke glanced at Allia, then back at the boy. "What's up, Hiei?"

The boy called Hiei looked from Yusuke to Allia. He stared at her for a second before turning back to Yusuke and handing him a tape. "From Koenma," he said.

"Koenma? Isn't this Botan's gig?" Yusuke asked taking the tape.

"I don't know, I'm following _orders_." Hiei said, sounding extremely bored with the whole thing. Allia was shocked by his deep voice, by his childlike appearance Allia had been assuming he was much younger then he sounded.

"You're following Koenma's orders?" Yusuke asked. Hiei just started at Yusuke, before turning back to Allia.

"When I sensed one with you, I assumed it was Botan. I didn't know you knew another."

"Knew another what?" Yusuke asked, turning to look at Allia too. Allia looked back at Yusuke and shrugged her shoulders. She was getting pretty confused with the whole situation.

Hiei didn't answer. He just stared for a moment longer before seeming to disappear right in front of them. _Whoa... He's fast_ she thought. She knew he hadn't disappeared. She could sense him just a little ways behind them.

"Strange guy." she heard Yusuke mutter. They both jumped as the bell for school suddenly rang. She heard Yusuke swear as they both took off at a sprint to get to school.

"So, how do you think you did on that test, Keiko?" Allia asked as she and Keiko left the classroom together.

Keiko smiled, "Pretty good, I think. Though those last two questions were pretty tough." Allia smiled with her, about to ask what she'd put for the answers because she too had had some problems with those questions, when she heard Yusuke's voice coming from a classroom in front of them.

"Kuwabara! You've got a nice VCR in your room..." Allia heard Keiko sigh and they both walked over to the classroom.

"Yusuke! Is it your goal to get a detention everyday of school? You know you can't bring videos here." Keiko said walking into the room. While Keiko and Yusuke argued Allia looked over to the video tape Yusuke was hiding under his arm. _That's the one Hiei gave him this morning..._

"Okay fine," she heard Yusuke say. She looked back over to see him staring at Keiko, "to tell you the truth I got this thing from Spirit World. I haven't seen the video yet but odds are it's my next big case. So how's that for spilling my guts?" he asked, smirking at Keiko. _What's Spirit World? _Allia wondered.

"What's a...Spirit World?" She heard Keiko ask.

Allia listened as Keiko said something about Yusuke's internship at a detective agency. _He's in an after school program? _She wondered. Strange, because that really didn't seem like something Yusuke would do.

After school Allia convinced Yusuke to let her go with him to Kuwabara's house. She had a feeling that whatever story Keiko had been told, it most definitely was not the truth. After a little tantrum and a _tiny_ guilt trip, Yusuke finally agreed. So he'd introduced Allia to Kuwabara, (where for a second Kuwabara decided to flirt with Allia which ended up with Yusuke putting him in a headlock for talking to a girl who Yusuke felt was practically his sister that way) and then the three of them headed off to Kuwabara's house. On the way a girl with long blue hair held up in a ponytail joined them. Yusuke introduced her as Botan, a girl who interned at the same detective agency as him. Allia resisted rolling her eyes at the aforementioned detective agency. She just didn't believe that's what Yusuke had been doing with his time. When they got inside Kuwabara's house, an older girl with brown hair came up to greet them.

"Some of Kazuma's friends?" she asked. They nodded and Kuwabara introduced them all.

"Were just gonna go up and watch a movie, Shizuru," he said heading up the stairs. Yusuke and Botan went to follow.

"'Kay, I'll bring you kiddos up some snacks then." Allia watched as the other two walked away with Kuwabara.

"I'll help you." she said and she followed Shizuru into the kitchen.

A few minutes later Allia and Shizuru walked up the stairs towards Kuwabara's room, Allia carrying a tray of snacks and Shizuru a tray of drinks. When they opened the door, Allia was surprised to see a toddler on the TV screen.

Allia watched as the toddler explained about a search and rescue mission. Apparently a girl named Yukina, (what did that toddler say she was, an _ice apparition?)_had been kidnapped by some crime lordjust so the guy could get a hold of jewels the girl produced when she cried. Suddenly the man who had kidnapped appeared on the screen. Allia inwardly cringed. He was beyond ugly. Allia felt for the poor girl. Who knows what pain that horrible man was putting her through. Finally a picture of the girl was shown. She had long mint green hair and big crimson eyes. _She's so pretty.. _Allia thought.

"Oh, I feel awful for her we have to leave today." Allia heard Botan say. She looked over to see Kuwabara suddenly standing.

"What's his deal?" Yusuke asked.

Allia watched as Kuwabara slowly turned to face him.

"I..think I'm in love." He said.

Allia had to stop herself from giggling. She smiled as Kuwabara declared how they needed to leave because he needed to save her. It was only then the three of them noticed Shizuru and Allia standing in the doorway.

"H-how long have you two been here." Botan asked, glancing back in forth between Allia and Shizuru. Shizuru told her to calm down and reminded Botan about the snacks she said they were bringing up. Allia looked at Yusuke.

"What's up with that weird movie you all are watching?" she asked.

"We're just watching fuzz..." he mumbled.

"So we were just imagining the boy with the pacifier in his mouth giving you orders?" Shizuru asked. Yusuke said something about kids these days and their imaginations. Allia rolled her eyes.

"Give up Yusuke, spirit awareness must run in the Kuwabara family. And Allia must have strong spirit awareness too."

Kuwabara then proceeded to get money from his sister before running off.

"Do you think he knows his way to the mountains?" Botan asked.

"Doubt it." Yusuke said. So Allia and Shizuru sat down to watch the movie with them again while they waited for Kuwabara to come back.

Allia ran out of Kuwabara's bathroom and down the stairs to meet Yusuke. She'd changed into the t-shirt and jeans she always carried around in her bag. _And Yusuke thinks I'm always over-prepared. _Allia laughed to herself. She was going along with Yusuke to go rescue that Yukina girl. Now all she had to do was convince him into letting her go.

Yusuke looked over as Allia reached the bottom of the stairs. He was surprised to see she'd put her long black hair up in a ponytail and changed into her back-up clothes. _I still can't believe she carries those around with her_. When he saw the look on Allia's face, he finally realized what she was up to.

"Oh, hell no, Al. You're not going with us." He said. The others looked over to watch them.

"Yes, Yusuke, I am." Allia placed her hands on her hips. There was no she was going to let Yusuke run off and do something extremely dangerous without her.

"No," he repeated, "it's way too dangerous. This isn't your everyday street fight. You could get hurt Allia."

"I don't care," And for the most part she didn't. Yes, running off to the middle of nowhere to fight crazy, ugly crime bosses was kind of scary, but she didn't want Yusuke to leave her behind again. She _felt_ that this needed to happen. And with how mean Fate always was to Allia, she knew that you always trusted your instinct. If not, bad things happened.

"I care, Al. I can't promise I'll be able to keep an eye out so you don't get hurt."

Allia looked at Yusuke angrily. "I'm not some little kid Yusuke Urameshi. I am perfectly capable of looking out for myself." Yusuke sighed in exasperation. _This may be harder then I thought. _Allia said to herself. Then what Yusuke said about promising her reminded her of something. She squared her shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "If you leave without me, Yusuke, that will make it the second time you broke your promise to me. And I just might not forgive you a second time." Yusuke looked taken aback. Finally he sighed and defeat.

"Alright Allia, you can come." Allia smiled at him. She felt bad about having to use his promise against him, but she was sure that was the only way she was going to get to come along.

"Wait a minute. Yusuke you can't just bring whoever along! Koenma will have a fit if he hears about this!" Botan said, poking Yusuke in the chest.

"Eh, the little pacifier mouth will get over it. Besides, Al is a pretty good fighter. Who knows, we might need her help." Botan looked at him.

"Well, alright then."

They'd gotten off the bus an hour later and were now walking along a path in the woods. The forest seemed to be huge. Everything around them was a lush green color. Allia swatted a bug away from her. _I bet Yusuke's enjoying this. He hates the woods. _Allia smiled to herself.

"This place smells like ass." Yusuke muttered as they walked up another hill. Allia stopped herself from laughing.

She looked up to see Botan standing at the top of the hill. She yelled something about another path and Kuwabara took off.

"Let's go Urameshi! Wait for me Yukina! Your true love is coming1" She heard him yell as he ran along the path in front of them. Yusuke and Allia walked up to the top to stand with Botan.

"I guess he's done being in love with you, Botan." Yusuke said, watching his love-struck friend.

"Darn." she said sarcastically.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Kuwabara called after them, "We got a girl to rescue!"

"Shouldn't we tell him about the rest of the video?" Botan asked quietly.

"I'd hate to ruin his fun.." Yusuke mumbled. Allia looked at Yusuke and Botan.

"So he really doesn't know Yukina's Hiei's sister?" She asked. They shook their heads at her.

Allia, Yusuke, and Botan finally caught up with Kuwabara a few minutes later. He was standing ina small clearing looking around.

"What's wrong, Kuwabara?" Yusuke as stopping behind him.

"I'm sensing something really bad." Kuwabara said. Allia could feel it too. Something strong and dangerous was near them.

"...I think I see him." She heard Yusuke say. Allia looked over to where Yusuke was staring at. A man was standing there. _Not a man..._ Allia thought. No, she could feel it. This man was not human.

"Hey, how's it going neighbor?" Yusuke called to him.

"You're on private property." the..._thing _said, Allia didn't know what else to call it...

Well, whatever it was told them to leave. Obviously that wasn't going to happen. Yusuke said something about crime lords always having really nice houses. That's when Allia felt it. The air around the guy changed. It seemed like it was mutating or something. Allia watch, horrified as the monster (yea, monster definitely seemed like a good thing to call it) transformed. It's muscles grew and its clothes ripped as it grew. Big green tentacle things replaced where his legs were and his mouth elongated. Allia looked at its chest where a huge mouth opened, sharp teeth gleaming in the sunlight. It lifted one of its hands up and a smaller version of the mouth on his chest opened up on his palm.

Allia heard Kuwabara call the thing a demon. _A demon?_ She guess that made sense. More so then the 'maybe he got dunked into some radioactive waste' scenario she had running through her head. Allia didn't hear what Yusuke and Kuwabara were saying to the demon, she was focusing on the huge mouth. (That things kind of hard _not_ to stare at). She only tuned back in to what they were doing when she saw their hands start to glow with what looked like their energy.

Allia resisted the urge to scream when the demon lunged at them. She watched as Kuwabara transformed the energy on his hand into a glowing yellow sword. Kuwabara jumped up sliced the demon into three pieces. Yusuke then looked up at the demon and pointed his finger at him like a gun.

"Spirit Gun!" Yusuke yelled. A beam of energy shot out of Yusuke's finger and hit the demon. Allia watched amazed as the demon seemed to disintegrate in the beam.

"And hear I was thinking they'd make it easy for us, huh Kuwabara?" Yusuke said, smirking.

"Yeah..." Kuwabara muttered.

Allia looked back and forth from Yusuke to Kuwabara. _I knew it,_ she thought _After school program my ass._

**So there you go. I hope you like it. Sorry if it's all mushed, FF doesn't seem to like my line breaks Next chapter will be up soon. See-ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter. I've got work and summer classes going on now, but I'll still try and update at least once a week. Don't want to take up to much of your time so on with the reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Yu Yu Hakusho, any dialogue used is not mine and is from episode 23. I also own nothing from Jason Mraz.**

_Recap: Allia goes with Yusuke to Kuwabara's house. She sees a video where Yusuke is told about a mission he has to go on to rescue an ice apparition named Yukina. Allia goes on the mission with him and watches amazed as Kuwabara and Yusuke fight a demon working for the man who kidnapped Yukina._

_I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily. I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make. (Jason Mraz: I won't give up)_

"Kinda stupid to have a mountain trail that ends halfway up the mountain, huh?" Yusuke said, irritated. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he was glaring into the forest, "I guess they don't encourage much camping around here."

Botan walked up to him and looked at the watch on her wrist. "Yes, the stronghold is very well hidden, but we should be able to find it eventually by following Yukina's energy."

"Why you still using that compass? Just follow my way," Kuwabara said. He smiled as he lifted his hand up, his pinkie finger extended, "the red pinkie string!"

"The...what?" Allia and Botan asked.

"The moment I saw her, my love stretched out and tied us together," Kuwabara stretched his arm out towards the trees in front of them, "You see?" Let's follow the thread of destiny tied to my love!" And with that Kuwabara let out a laugh and ran further into the woods. Allia, Yusuke, and Botan watched Kuwabara as he ran. Allia smiled. _Kuwabara's so silly and dramatic, _she said laughing to herself, _but whatever this pinkie string of love thing is, it must be right. I feel like he's headed in the right direction. _Allia looked over at Yusuke and Botan, and then followed after Kuwabara.

A little later they were all walking along together when Kuwabara stopped and started to head another direction. Allia looked in the direction of the trees in front of her. Something felt very off, like something bad was in there waiting for them.

Botan saw the way Kuwabara was headed and shouted, "Wait, Kuwabara, it's this way!"

Kuwabara turned to face them, "Yea, but I just got a really bad feeling. Let's go around."

"I think Kuwabara's right, Botan. Something doesn't feel right." Allia said. She turned to head the way Kuwabara was going.

"My compass says follow the path," Botan walked further along the path as she spoke, "we don't have time for detours."

All of a sudden Botan yelled as something grabbed her leg and pulled her up into the trees. Yusuke yelled for her as he ran over to where she had been walking. Allia looked up to see Botan hanging there, upside down.

"Woopsie," she said.

Woopsie was right. There Botan hung, sticking to the massive spiderweb that was clinging to the surrounding trees. Allia heard her call for help as a pair of gleaming read eyes appeared. Botan screamed as a giant blue spider crawled out to sit next to her. Allia resisted the sudden urge to faint as she stared at the hairy, eight-legged beast. She hated spiders. There was something about their hairy bodies and the twitchy way they moved that just made her want to faint at even the mention of one. Allia heard the oversized arachnid speak, its shrilly voice sending chills down her spine.

"Ooh, it's a spider this time," Yusuke mumbled, "Hey, let her go!"

"Gooo?" The spider asked, its voice quivering as it drug out the 'o', "Now, why would I let her gooo, if I'm planning to drinking her blood?"

Botan let out a frightened squeak as it looked at her.

"If you want to save her, you'll have to come up and fight me in the evil spiders lair." The spider chuckled as it looked back down at them. Allia watched as Kuwabara brought out that same glowing yellow sword made of his energy. She felt him manipulate his energy, and watched amazed as the sword began to grow longer. Kuwabara swung the elongated sword towards where the spider sat. he sliced up the web surrounding Botan. Botan was released from her sticky trap and fell head first towards the ground. Yusuke ran towards her and easily caught her. Allia moved over to Botan to see if she was okay.

The spider fell to the ground with a plop. "You can't possibly be human!" It yelled, the shrillness in its voice increasing the louder it got.

"Yep," Yusuke said.

"W just happen to be really, really tough!" Kuwabara said, taking a fighting stance as the spider faced the four of them.

The spider yelled in anger and lunged at them.

"Pardon me if I make this quick," Yusuke said. Smirking. His fist glowed blue from his energy again and he readied himself as the spider drew nearer. Yusuke swung his arm out and punched the spider right in the gut. The spider screamed in pain as Yusuke's punch blew a gaping whole in the beasts belly. It flew back from the force of the punch and landed hard against the ground. Allia watch, repulsed, as the spider writhed on the ground until it went still, finally dead.

"Nice hook!" Botan said.

"Thanks. If this detective thing doesn't work maybe I can try exterminating." Allia laughed as she tore her eyes away from the dead spider and focused on Yusuke.

They'd moved on down the path and walked for a little while until finally coming upon a clearing. Allia looked up and stared at the patches of sky showing through the dense leaves. It had gotten dark a few minutes ago and Allia could finally see a few stars scattered across the sky.

"I think we better stop and camp for the night." Allia said. Botan looked at her and nodded her head.

"Allia's right. You two need to be fully rested so you can rescue Yukina tomorrow."

So they stopped and Yusuke and Kuwabara started to make a campfire. Allia sat by Botan and watched as the two boys finished building a fire. After they were done, Yusuke came and sat beside Allia while Kuwabara sat on Botan's other side.

Allia sat there in silence as the other three talked. She wanted to ask Yusuke why he'd lied about what he'd been doing while he was gone, but she didn't know if it was best to ask him in front of Botan and Kuwabara. She was expecting Yusuke to argue and say he didn't, so if there was going to be a fight between them, she didn't want it to be out in the open where everyone could here.

Allia was trying to find the best way to ask Yusuke if they could speak in private when she suddenly felt a sharp poke in her side.

She looked over to see Yusuke staring at her. Allia rubbed her side and asked, "What the heck was that for?"

"Why are you so quiet?"Yusuke asked.

Allia looked back towards the fire. "I was just thinking." Yusuke poked her side again to get her to look at him.

"What were you thinking about?"

Allia glared at his hand then looked at his face, "You lied to Keiko, didn't you? You aren't really in some after school program for delinquents." Yusuke looked at Allia. He was getting pretty tired of having to lie to the people close to him. Finally, Yusuke nodded his head.

Allia was shocked when Yusuke didn't deny that he'd lied, but she tried to hide it. Instead, she said, "You should tell me what's really been going on."

Yusuke stared at her for a moment before opening his mouth to speak.

"No, Yusuke!" Botan suddenly yelled from the other side of Allia. Allia and Yusuke both turned to look at her, "You know you are not allowed to tell anyone. It's against the rules. Koenma would be furious if he found out!"

"Why does it matter?" Yusuke argued, "I trust Allia. It's not like she gonna run and tell our whole school about Spirit World and that I'm a spirit detective."

"Urameshi's right, Botan. And besides, it doesn't really matter anymore. Allia's already seen two demons." Kuwabara said leaning back on his hands and he stared around the clearing.

"Technically, she's seen three demons." Yusuke said. Allia turned to him confused. She'd heard Kuwabara call that first guard a demon, and she figured that big spider was probably a demon too. But who was the third demon?

"What third demon?" She asked Yusuke.

Yusuke looked at Allia again and smiled. "Hiei, that short guy with the spiky black hair who gave me the video tape from Koenma, he's a demon." Allia's eyes widened in understanding.

"So _that's _why I was getting a weird feeling from him!" she said.

Yusuke nodded. "Yup. I met Hiei on my first case as Spirit Detective. He was technically the bad guy then, but he's cool now. I also met another demon named Kurama."

"What's a Spirit Detective?" Allia asked.

"Basically it's my job to protect our world from demons. Though right now it's kinda switched and I'm protecting a demon from a bad guy from our world. I work for the ruler of Spirit World. You remember that little toddler from the video, the one with the pacifier hanging outta his mouth?" Allia nodded, "Yea, that's my boss."

"_That's _your boss?" Allia asked, shocked.

"Yeah, crazy huh? I got the job from him because he sorta helped bring me back to life."

Allia's eyes widened at that. _Brought him back to life?_ And then she realized Yusuke must have been talking about the accident. So he had actually died. But then this Koenma guy decided to bring him back to life just so he could make him Spirit Detective. It sounded pretty far fetched, but Allia knew Yusuke wouldn't just make this up. So she just nodded her head again and asked, "So these past few months you've been away doing stuff for Koenma?"

Yusuke nodded. "I've been doing missions for him."

Yusuke went on to explain about how after his first mission, where apparently Hiei and this Kurama person had stolen some rare artifacts that Yusuke had to get back, Koenma sent him on a mission to find a demon named Rando. Rando had been going after a martial arts teacher named Genkai. Yusuke explained how he had to compete in a small tournament that Genkai had made so she could find her successor. Yusuke said he defeated Rando in the final match and ended up training with Genkai. Then after he was finished with his training, Koenma sent him on another mission. Apparently four demons called the Four Saint Beasts had released a bunch of bugs into the human world that could take over the minds of depressed people. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama had fought the demons and beat them.

Allia listened, completely wrapped up in Yusuke's story. She was amazed by all the things Yusuke had been doing when he was gone. She was also impressed by how he'd changed. Allia could feel that he was stronger now. Also, he seemed like he had finally found his place, Yusuke had always been different from everyone else. It made Allia happy to hear him doing something she could tell he enjoyed.

"Wow, Yusuke, you sure have been busy these past few months." Allia said as she smiled at her friend, "So, how exactly did Koenma bring you back to life?"

Yusuke opened his mouth to answer, but Botan cut him off, "I think that's quite enough. You should really talk to Koenma before you tell her anything else, Yusuke."

Allia could tell by Yusuke's face that he was about to argue with Botan, so she poked Yusuke hard in the side. "Botan's right. You've told me enough for right now. Talk to your boss first, I don't want you to get in trouble."

Yusuke rubbed his side. "Fine. So, now I have a question for you. How come you never told me you had all this spirit awareness.?"

Allia thought about the question. She guessed she never mentioned it because, honestly, she never knew that she had it. Ever since she was little and was living in the orphanage, Allia had always been able to _feel_ when something was off. She'd always thought it was just her relying on her instincts though. Allia was and still is a very unlucky person. If she hadn't been cautious whenever she felt like something bad was going to happen, who knows how many accidents she would have been in by now. How was she supposed to know it was actually her being spiritually aware? _Actually...I should have guessed that that was what was going on the whole time. _Allia remembered the few times she'd been walking home with Keiko and she'd thought she'd seen a person looking at her from across the street. She'd always ask Keiko if she could see the person, but Keiko always said there was no one there. _Maybe I've been seeing spirits..._

Allia saw that Yusuke was waiting for his answer. She sighed and said, "I never knew really. I thought it was normal for me to see and feel all those weird things...I wasn't going to question something about myself that I thought was actually _normal_."

Yusuke stared at her. "I can't believe I never noticed it..."

Allia smirked at Yusuke. "You haven't really been around much lately. Maybe that's why you never noticed."

Yusuke punched her shoulder lightly, "Shut up."

Kuwabara suddenly yawned. "I think it's time we hit the hay.

Soon the four of them were laying down around the campfire. Yusuke had taken off his jacket and offered it to Allia and Botan to share as a make shift pillow. Allia had fallen asleep to the sound of the crackling fire and the deep, even breaths of the others...

A sudden noise jerked Allia out of her peaceful slumber. Allia rubbed her eyes and glanced around their campsite. The fire was still burning brightly, but the other three had disappeared. Allia called out to them, afraid one of those big, ugly demons had come and taken them. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but found that the air was thick. Allia tried to take another breath, but it felt heavy and like someone was pushing on her lungs making it almost impossible to breath. The sound of a twig snapping made her jump and she quickly glanced around the surrounding woods, trying to find where the noise came from.

A man stepped out from the shadows, and Allia had to stop herself from letting out a frightened squeak. The man from her nightmare was walking over to the fire. He looked even more hideous with the shadows being cast by the fire falling on his face. The thick scar that ran down most of his face stood out in the night as he sat down directly across from Allia. Fear paralyzed her, so she just sat there as he stared at her.

"You're waking up, Spirit." he said. Allia noticed how hoarse his voice was, as if it had been years since he'd used it last, "Soon you'll find out everything. Isn't that what you've always wanted? To remember?"

The Man reached out towards the flames. Allia almost gasped when the man stuck his hand into the fire, only to pull it out soon, though it was now covered with the bright orange flames.

"Tell me, do you at least remember what if feels like to be completely surrounded by my fire? Wrapped up in it so tight all you can do is sit there as everything around you slowly turns to ashes?"

Allia swallowed, and tried to speak, "W-what are you t-talking about?" The man just stared at Allia. His red eyes looking as dangerous as the fire he held in his palm.

"Guess not. Let me remind you then." Allia watched, the scream stuck in her throat, as the man threw the fire right at her. She could only stare as it flew closer to her face. And closer, and closer, and closer...

Allia flung herself into a sitting position and she slapped a hand over her mouth to stop the scream from escaping. She quickly took in breath after breath, trying to calm herself down. She glanced around to the other three. They were laying in the same positions, still sleeping soundly. Allia Looked at Yusuke. She wanted to wake him. She wanted to tell him about real that dream was. How she had felt the heat from the fire as if came closer to her face. She almost reached her arm out to shake him awake, but at the last minute thought better of it. Botan was right. He needed to be fully rested if he was going to save Yukina tomorrow. He also didn't need to be distracted by Allia's problems. Allia took another deep breath and looked at the fire. It had almost completely died down.

She had a feeling something dangerous was waiting for them at the compound.

**So there you go! The next chapter will be up soon and it'll have the rest of episode 23 and have episode 24 in it. See ya!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So I've really no excuse for the how long it took me to write this. I could say life got in the way or that I've had some major writer's block, but I still don't think that makes up for it. Well, I don't want to bore you with the details so, on with the reading!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Yu Yu Hakusho and any dialogue you may recognize comes from epsiodes 23 and 24 of the anime. I also own nothing of Rascal Flatts.**

_Recap: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan, and Allia headed further into the forest in search of the stronghold where Yukina was being kept. Along the way they battled a giant spider demon who tried to eat Botan. After killing the demon, the four decided to camp for the night. Here, Allia finally got Yusuke to tell her the truth about where he'd been disappearing to these last few months. Allia learned that Yusuke is, in fact, a spirit detective and it is his job to protect human world from demons. Later that night when they were sleeping, Allia had another nightmare involving the strange man with the scar down his face. She awoke with a barely muffled scream to find that she was unhurt and that her friends were still safe. For now at least, because Allia could sense something dangerous waiting for them at the stronghold._

_You feel like a candle in a hurricane, just like a picture with a broken frame. Alone and helpless like you've lost your fight, but you'll be alright. You'll be alright . (Rascal Flatts: Stand)_

Allia couldn't get back to sleep after her nightmare had woken her. She could still feel the heat of the fire as it flew even closer to her face. And his voice. Allia didn't think it was possible for person's voice to make her every fiber quiver in fear. So instead of sleeping, Allia scooted closer to the remains of the dying fire, wrapped her arms tightly around her knees, and stared up at the stars. The clearing they had chosen to make camp in had a decent view of the night sky, for which Allia was grateful. There was just something calming about the way the stars twinkled in pitch black of space. It made Allia feel small and insignificant, like the idea that just maybe the world really was out to get her was so far-fetched it was laughable.

Allia shivered in the cold and pulled her knees even closer to her. She considered lighting the fire again, but was afraid she might wake one of the others. Allia sighed and tried to think of something that would take her mind off of how chilly it was. She was contemplating going over her English vocabulary for school when she _felt_ something rustle in the trees behind their camp. Allia whipped around and tried peering into the darkness surrounding her. _Nothing seems to be moving..._ she thought. _But isn't that always how it looks right before the giant blood-thirsty rabid animal comes bursting out of the darkness to eat you? _Allia jumped as a twig snapped somewhere in the distance. _It's just a squirrel...just a squirrel... _When a second twig snapped Allia clamped her mouth shut in an effort not to scream and dove towards where Yusuke lay. She hid her head under her arms, hoping that whatever beast was out there would get distracted and leave. A sudden snore from Kuwabara nearly had her screaming and running all the way back home. Allia lifted her head and took a deep breath to calm her self. She glared at the slumbering boy, who was laying on his side, his arm pillowing his head. The forest was now quiet. Allia considered moving back over to Botan and trying to get back to sleep. _I won't be of any help to Yusuke if I'm so tired I can't even stand. _Allia got to her knees and crawled over to her spot by the sleeping girl. She lied down and shifted until she was in a somewhat comfortable position. Allia closed her eyes and succumbed to her body's need of sleep, all the while praying this time no nightmare would jerk her back to reality.

Allia opened her eyes a few hours later, the dim morning light enveloping the clearing. She sat up and stretched, the muscles in her back aching from the cold hard ground she'd been sleeping on.

"Did you hear something?" she heard Botan ask.

"_No,_" Yusuke answered. She looked over to where the two of them were standing. "Would you _get up_, Kuwabara?" Yusuke said, glaring at the boy. Kuwabara sat up, yawning hugely and rubbing his neck. Allia stood up and stretched again.

"How long have you two been up?" she asked.

"Just a few minutes," Botan answered, "Come on everyone, we better get going."

"You've got to be kidding me." Allia mumbled as six rather ugly demons came charging at them from the trees. Kuwabara summoned his sword again and began slicing at the demons. Yusuke swung his fist and landed a punch into the nearest demon's face. It went flying back into the bushes. Botan let out a shout of fear as one demon tried to grab her. Allia charged forward and kicked the demon in the neck, launching it off towards the side where it crashed into a tree. Allia moved to make sure Botan wasn't hurt as Yusuke and Kuwabara finished off the rest of the demons. Kuwabara grunted in effort as his sword sliced the last demon in half.

"Piece of cake," he said, holding his sword out in front of him. Yusuke looked around at the bodies of the demons laying on the ground.

"Why are they even bothering with all these wimps?" he asked. Botan and Allia ran forward to stand beside Yusuke.

"They're desperate," Botan said, glancing at the compass on her wrist, "we're very close to Yukina."

"Yeah," Kuwabara said as he tied something to his forehead. "Let's go." Allia, Yusuke, and Botan stared at him.

"What in the world are you tying to your head?" Botan asked, pointing to the bandana, which had a little red heart on it.

"The great fighting headband of love!" Kuwabara shouted. Allia barely resisted bursting out in laughter. _He can't be serious... _

"Right..."Yusuke mumbled, scratching his chin and staring at his friend as if he'd grown another head.

What sounded like a stampede of wild animals brought Allia's attention back to the surrounding area. Another group of demons was racing towards them, one of them the size of a house. Allia and Yusuke stepped in front of Botan.

"And all those guys, they hate love. They want to try and keep me from my Yukina!" Kuwabara yelled as he charged towards the oncoming demons. Two of the monsters jumped into the air to close the distance between them and Kuwabara. The growled in shrilly little voices as Kuwabara called "Step aside evil doers!" Kuwabara stabbed one in the stomach and then kicked it cleanly off his sword before slashing the other one across the chest. He whirled around and sliced two more into pieces.

"You're not gonna be the only hero!" Yusuke yelled as he raced forward. Allia felt his energy surge and wrap around his fist. It glowed bright blue as he moved towards two demons, punching them both and launching their now unconscious bodies back into the trees. Yusuke jumped into the air as the giant demon from before moved forward. Allia watched amazed as Yusuke landed punch after punch on the demon, eventually knocking it into the ground where it lay there completely still. Yusuke jumped back from it with a smirk on his face. "Giving me the bigger target? Aw, thanks."

Botan and Allia ran up to where the two boys were waiting. _He's gotten so strong... _Allia thought as she looked up at her childhood friend. _Whatever training he did with Genkai definitely paid off. _The four of them set off again through the woods. After a few minutes a extremely large house came into view.

"There's the stronghold," Kuwabara said. Allia looked at the large brick building and the tall tower with a pointed green roof.

"It's the same as the video," Botan said. She checked the compass on her wrist. "Yukina must be in that tower."

"Hold on my darling, your brave man is coming." Kuwabara muttered as he moved towards the house.

Yusuke moved to follow Kuwabara, but Botan's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Take care of him," she whispered, "the compass is getting interference from three _very_ strong demons. Don't let him rush in blindly." She moved away from Yusuke. "I'll go airborne and try and sneak a peak." Suddenly an oar appeared in Botan's outstretched hand. Allia watch confused as Botan hopped onto the oar. "Want to come with me, Allia?" Botan asked.

Allia glanced at the oar nervously before nodding her head. Botan helped her onto the oar before taking of into the sky. "Don't worry about us!" She called to the two boys.

Allia was pretty proud of herself. She'd managed to actually _not_ scream and cry like a baby once she'd seen how high the oar had taken them. She and Botan flew above the wall that surrounded the stronghold, looking around the outside for any signs of guards.

"What a waste of a gorgeous home," Botan said.

"No kidding." Allia replied as she took in the well-cared for building. A sudden group of explosions had the girls yelling in fright as the oar rocked dangerously from the force of the blast. Allia and Botan whipped their heads around to see explosion after explosion cause billows of black smoke to cloud the sky. Botan steered the oar back towards the entrance to the stronghold. _No..._Allia thought as her hands tightened on the oar.

"Yusuke! Kuwabara!" Botan shouted.

_Please, let them be okay. _Allia swallowed the lump in her throat as she started at the columns of smoke. Fate couldn't be this cruel, could it? It wouldn't take away one of the only friends she had. Allia could feel her self shaking in fear as the dove towards the ground.

"Oh...please.." She heard Botan mutter as they stared into the wall of fire that now surrounded the building. A sudden burst of flames had the oar flipping away from the entrance. The girls screamed as the tried to remain seated. Allia looked back towards the flames. _What...is that?_ Two dark spots had appeared in the fire, and they were steadily getting bigger as they neared the entrance. Another burst of flames and suddenly Yusuke and Kuwabara were standing there, looking completely unfazed as a bright swirling shield of energy surrounded them, keeping the dangerous fire away.

"Bingo!" Botan yelled happily as she spotted the two boys beneath them.

"They're okay!" Allia said. She saw Yusuke look up at them smiling, giving them a thumbs up as they neared him. Botan and Allia landing softly on the ground beside them. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each and nodded, before the four of them set off again towards the front of stronghold.

Allia moved to stand next to Yusuke. She nudged him in the ribs with her shoulder (that was about the highest place her shoulder could reach) and smiled at him. He glanced at her, the smile still on his face.

"Don't scare me like that again, jerk." She said playfully.

Yusuke smirked at her. "Sorry, Kuwabara and I just thought it'd make for a cool entrance." Allia laughed.

"Oh, it was _very cool. _I'm sure that slimeball in there is probably shaking in his three-piece suit." Yusuke laughed and swung his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah? I bet he's probably wet himself, he's so afraid!" They both laughed again.

"Come on, you two!" Botan called. They looked up to see her standing in front of a large wooden door. A sudden chill went through Allia. She resisted the urge to shudder. Instead she moved away from Yusuke to stand next to Botan.

"It's open, isn't it?" Allia asked. Botan turned to look at the door. She reached forward and slowly turned the knob. The door swung open with a slight creak.

"Huh, how'd you know that, Al?" Yusuke asked.

Allia shrugged, "Just a feeling. We'd better be careful in here, something's off." Kuwabara nodded his head.

"Allia's right. Feels like something's waiting in there for us." he said.

"Well, it'd be rude to keep them waiting any longer. Let's go." Yusuke said as he walked into the house.

The walked through the entrance of the house to find a set of well-polished black doors. Yusuke and Kuwabara pushed them open to reveal a very large hallway with plush purple carpet. The four of them glanced at each other before Botan gasped in surprise.

"Hello there, intruders, my name is Miyuki." Said a voice in front of them. A very pretty woman in red with long blue hair was standing in front of them. The horn coming out of her head told Allia that this woman must be a demon as well. _At least this one isn't scary looking._ Allia thought.

"How'd you like a fight?" Miyuki asked them. Yusuke and Kuwabara glanced at each other again. Miyuki smiled at them. "Which of you strapping lads will I have the pleasure of fighting first?"

Kuwabara looked utterly shocked at this question. "No way! You are a girl! We can't fight girls..it's against my code." He started forward. "Come on, Urameshi, let's just walk past her."

"Ooh, a _gentleman_," Miyuki sneered," a pawn of insecure males seeking to _own _their women."

"Woah!" Kuwabara yelled, flustered, "I don't know anything about that, okay? Guys just don't fight girls!"

"I'll fight with you," Yusuke said, shoving past Kuwabara.

Kuwabara moved forward toward Yusuke again. "Urameshi, are you serious?"

"She's a fighter and she's trying to get in our way. I don't care if she's a girl, a baby, or somebody's grandmother. I'll _still _knock her out." He walked forward towards Miyuki.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara called. He looked back and glanced at Allia. "Hey, why don't you let Allia fight her? You said yourself she's a pretty good fighter. Plus, she's a girl so it's be okay!"

Allia smiled at Kuwabara. _Wow, he's got a pretty strong honor code. _"I can fight her." Allia told Yusuke. Yusuke looked back at Allia, frowning.

"No, Al. You are pretty good, I'll give you that, but you're not fighting any serious battles unless you absolutely have to. I'm not gonna risk you getting hurt." Allia frowned at him, but didn't argue. She knew she wouldn't change his mind.

"Ooh, I love your style," Miyuki purred. She jumped back and got into her fighting stance. "It's an equal playing field and anything goes."

"But let me check first to make sure!" Yusuke said before he took off towards her.

Miyuki jumped in the air to attack the same time as Yusuke did. Allia thought she saw Yusuke do something with his hands before they both landed back on the ground. Miyuki was kneeling down. She wrapped her arms around her chest. "You pervert!" she yelled "What was that?"

Yusuke turned around with a smirk on his face, his hand outstretched. "Now I know."

"Hey, uh, I don't get it..What just happened?" Kuwabara asked.

"He.._did not_.. just do what I think he did, did he?" Allia said.

"Hey lady!" Yusuke yelled, "You've got no chance of winning this fight!"

"Oh, Shut up!" Miyuki yelled. She reached her hand up to her head and pulled out a strand of her long blue hair. As she flung it forward, Allia watched amazed as the hair transformed itself into a long blue whip. Miyuki got up, twirling the whip around her like a lasso, and ran towards Yusuke. Yusuke tried to dodge as Miyuki cracked her whip at him, but the rope hit him in the face and he fell as she ran past him. Yusuke grimaced in pain as he turned to face her again. Miyuki turned around and looked at Yusuke. "You never would have done that if I were a man!" She swung her whip forward and wrapped it around Yusuke's neck, choking him.

"What does she mean by that?" Botan asked. _So the idiot did do it._ Allia thought. She looked down at Yusuke, lying in front of them, grabbing at the whip around his neck.

"I don't know," Kuwabara said. Allia watched amused as the look of realization appeared on Kuwabara's face. "Oh my Gosh, I'm pretty sure he grabbed Miyuki's..uh.."

"Breasts?" Allia supplied.

Kuwabara looked outraged. "Well it serves you right to get choked, Urameshi!"

Miyuki suddenly tightened the hold around Yusuke's neck and jumped into the air. She punched a hole into the ceiling of the hall and climbed through. Slowly she started to pull Yusuke into the air, the whip getting tighter every second. Allia heard Miyuki laugh and say "I'm going to enjoy this..."

"Maybe he should try apologizing to her" Kuwabara muttered.

"Oh, be quiet," Botan said, rolling her eyes.

Allia looked back up to Yusuke, worried. _Come on, get out of this._

Yusuke grunted and pulled on the rope around his throat. "If you wanted to hang out together, you should have just asked." He said. He began swinging his feet backwards and forwards until he propelled his body towards the hall's ceiling. Yusuke then kicked his way through the ceiling with a crash up to where Miyuki was. "Hello!" Allia heard him yell. "Where you going! Let's hang out!" Suddenly a loud thump was heard over the other threes heads. Miyuki came thundering down through the ceiling and slammed against the floor. She groaned in pain as she sat back up. Miyuki let out a shout of frustration as she charged towards Yusuke. Yusuke swung his fist at her, hitting her squarely in the chest. Miyuki flew back and landed in a heap on the floor.

"Urameshi! How can you keep hitting a girl like that! I mean you even hit her in the ta-ta's!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Give me a break." Yusuke said, turning to glare at Kuwabara,"you want me just to stand still while she reams me?"

"I don't know! All I'm saying is that boys aren't allowed to hit girls!"

"We're both fighters! Why the hell does it make a difference?"

A yell of frustration told them Miyuki was back on her feet. She ran towards Yusuke again, who turned around and kicked her, sending her crashing through the wall of the hallway.

"You yell way too much," Yusuke said, turning towards Kuwabara.

"Okay, that's it! You and me gotta duke it out right now so I don't get nauseous. Even if she was attacking you, you _don't _have to knock her head through a wall you bully!" Kuwabara said, glaring at Yusuke and raising his fists.

"Fine," Yusuke said, "I wasn't gonna tell you this because I still don't think it matters, but look closely, it turns out our misses was a mister." Allia, Botan, and Kuwabara all looked at Miyuki.

"Oh..." Botan said.

"B-but how did you...know" Kuwabara looked at Yusuke.

"Well...I really couldn't help but notice." He said. Yusuke motioned squeezing something with his hands.

"Wait a sec.." Kuwabara said,

"Okay, I admit it.. I was curious. Things didn't seem right up top and well...you know.." He made an okay sign with his hand, "The family jewels have not been stolen."

"So fighting girls actually _does _bother you, but you gave her a check-up instead of attacking her. You're kind of a weird person, aren't you?" Kuwabara said, looking at Yusuke strangely.

"You think I'm a freak, don't you!" Miyuki said as she slowly got up from the floor. "That's why you're attacking so violently. What, you're afraid I'll rub off on you? Why can't you treat me as an equal?" Miyuki jumped up and made to hit Yusuke.

"Shut up!" He said. He grabbed her by the collar and thigh and threw her done the hall. "If you're gonna be a man do it all the way, not halfway!" Miyuki's head slammed into the wall, cracking it.

Yusuke walked over and stood in front of Miyuki. "I'm fighting you because you won't let us save that girl. It's got nothing to do with anything except me kicking your ass!" Miyuki glared at Yusuke before passing out.

Kuwabara walked over to stand beside Yusuke. "You positive about this, Urameshi? She looks so...I mean... looks so... uh... pretty." He said, "I mean... are you sure she's a...?" Kuwabara grabbed the skirt of Miyuki's dress and began to lift it. Suddenly Botan's oar came out of nowhere and slammed him in the back of the head.

"You jerk!" Botan yelled.

"Don't be a perv, Kuwabara." Allia said, shaking her head.

The sound of a camera turning to face them grabbed their attention.

"Hey look, a camera." Kuwabara said as he and Yusuke looked up towards it.

"Two more and we're coming after you!" Yusuke called to it. The four of them held up piece signs to the camera, laughing.

"Come on," Allia said, looking at the others, "Let's go!"

**Well there you go! I promise not to have that long of a wait in between chapter next time. See-ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**It's been forever, I know. I have no excuses. But I will have the next chapter up sooner. Promise! Well, no need to ramble! On with the reading!**

******Disclaimer: I own nothing Yu Yu Hakusho and any dialogue you may recognize comes from epsiode 24 of the anime. I also own nothing of Paramore.**

_Recap: After fighting off more of Tarukane's demons and dodging his traps, the foursome finally made it into the stronghold. Inside, they were met with the first member of the Demon Triad, Miyuki. Kuwabara's honor code stopped him fighting the blue haired beauty, but Yusuke was willing to step up and battle her. After a quick fight Yusuke revealed to the others that Miyuki was a man and that's why he didn't hesitate to fight her. With the first demon down, the group moved on even further into the dangerous stronghold._

_Somehow everything's gonna fall right into place. If we only had a way to make it all fall faster everyday. (Paramore: Hallelujah)_

Yusuke, Botan, Kuwabara, and Allia took off down the the hall together. Allia glanced back to where Miyuki lay. _She won't be waking up any time soon._ She thought. Allia looked back towards Yusuke. She couldn't believe how much his fighting had improved since he'd been gone. It was like he was a completely new fighter. He was so much more powerful and he had a new determination in him she'd never seen before. _This spirit detective job really has done him some good. _Yusuke was definitely changing for the better. He was no longer the school bully who frightened almost everyone in school. He was becoming the good guy Allia always knew he could be.

"I've been thinking about what you did back there, Urameshi," Kuwabara said, panting as he ran next to Yusuke, "You know, I mean the way you checked to see if Miyuki was a boy. What would you have done if it'd actually been a _girl_ you were touching?"

Yusuke looked at Kuwabara with a cheesy grin on his face. "Think about it stupid! Like I would have complained!"

Allia almost tripped in outrage. "Yusuke!"

"What?" Yusuke said laughing, looking at her behind him.

"Keiko's not gonna like hearing that." Kuwabara said in a sing-song voice.

Yusuke let out a frightened squeak, (Which Allia was totally making fun of him for later) and stopped running. He turned around and grabbed Kuwabara by the collar of his jacket. Kuwabara stood there with his arms behind his head, grinning.

"You wouldn't _dare _tell Keiko that for real!" Yusuke yelled, shaking Kuwabara.

"Weeell..." Kuwabara pretended to think on it, the same silly grin plastered on his face, "there _is_ this new CD I want and I haven't had enough money to buy it.."

"You want me to buy it for you!?" Yusuke yelled as he and Kuwabara started to wrestle where they stood. Yusuke pulled on Kuwabara's hair as he tried flipping him over his back while Kuwabara shoved his hand against Yusuke's face. Allia rolled her eyes at the two of them.

"Would you boys knock it off! We're supposed to be rescuing Yukina!" Botan yelled at them. Kuwabara shoved Yusuke off of him.

"That's right! I don't have time for this!" He tightened his headband and extended his right arm again, pinkie out. "Okay! Here goes! By my red pinkie string I'm led to my hearts content!" Kuwabara took off down the hallway with another yell. Yusuke got to his feet and shared a look with Botan and Allia.

"Strange guy.." Allia muttered.

"You're telling me.."Yusuke said.

The three of them took off and headed the direction Kuwabara ran. They soon had to stop again as the hallway split off in two directions. Allia looked down the left and right path. The feeling she had been sensing since they made it to the stronghold was coming from the right. She heard Botan's compass beep. Botan glanced at it before pointing down the right hallway and saying, "This way!"

The other three took off and as Allia went to follow them a sudden feeling sent a chill down her spine. She stepped to the left and as she went to call out a warning to the others she heard Kuwabara gasp and yell "Move!" as he shoved Yusuke and Botan out of the way. A second later Allia saw what looked like a shimmering light fly right past where Yusuke had been standing.

Allia watched, jaw dropped, as Kuwabara's headband slid to the floor, split in two. Botan picked herself up from the floor where she fell and stood beside Kuwabara. "Someone's here." he mumbled. He was right, Allia could _feel_ it, she just couldn't see whoever it was.

Yusuke looked around the hall. A sudden surge of energy told Allia that whoever this was was about to make an appearance. Allia pointed down the hall where she felt the energy coming from and said, "Yusuke! Over there!"

The foursome watched as a man in blue appeared, his face covered by a black cloak. Only his small beady eyes and a few locks of greasy black hair was showing. "Demon two of the Triad, Inmaki." he said, his voice deep and raspy. He held up an arm and Allia saw that he wore sharp iron claws on his hands.

"I'm sorry I missed." he said, looking at the four of them. Kuwabara knelt to the ground and picked up the ruined headband. Allia looked over at Kuwabara to see his fist shaking in anger.

"You just tore up the great fighting headband of love! You're dead!" He yelled as he took of towards the demon. Inmaki swung his cloak around himself and disappeared before their eyes. Kuwabara stumbled to a stop and stared at the spot Inmaki was before he vanished.

"That was weird..." Yusuke mumbled. Allia nodded in agreement. Kuwabara looked over to his side quickly as Allia felt that familiar surge of energy coming closer to them.

"Kuwabara, look out!" she yelled. Kuwabara jumped back towards them. Something metal sliced right beside where his foot landed and sparks flew into the air. Kuwabara yelled in surprise and moved his foot out of harms way. Suddenly the sounds of metal hitting the floor and the burst of more sparks surrounded them. Yusuke looked around as he stepped closer to Kuwabara.

"Can you sense where this guy is hiding?" He asked. Kuwabara glanced around the hall as well.

"Nuh uh. He's too fast. Feels like he's all around us.."

Allia agreed with that. This Inmaki guy's energy was definitely surrounding them. It was impossible to tell where he was or where he was going to attack next. Allia felt goosebumps raise on her arms as the feeling that something bad might happen took over her. She willed the panic away, trusting that Yusuke would find them a way out of this.

A sudden grunt of pain escaped Yusuke's lips as Allia turned to see Inmaki slicing up his back with one of his iron claws. Yusuke fell to his knees and grabbed at the wound on his back. Botan gasped in shock.

"You okay?" Kuwabara asked.

"Let's run!" Yusuke yelled as he staggered up from the floor. Botan summoned her oar and motioned for Allia to jump on it with her. Allia climbed on behind Botan and they flew in the direction they came from, Yusuke and Kuwabara following behind them.

Allia heard Inmaki laughing behind them. She turned around to see him disappear again. "We should hurry up!" she yelled to the others.

Yusuke looked ahead of them and yelled for Botan to turn at the next corner. Botan swung her oar around and flew off down the hall. Allia gripped the oar tighter to stop herself from falling and turned to face behind them again. "There's nothing you can do..." Inmaki's voice echoed around them. Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped halfway down the hall and turned to face where Inmaki would have to enter from. As soon as his energy made it into the hall Kuwabara yelled "He's here!" Yusuke's fist began to glow with blue energy again and as he said shotgun a blast of energy fired from his hand. Allia heard Inmaki's shout of pain as his body became visible and was soon wrapped in Yusuke's energy. Suddenly, what sounded like gun shot after gun shot echoed down the hall. Allia watched amazed as tons of bullet holes and an even larger hole was blasted into the wall in front of them. The light surrounding Inmaki's battered body left as he let out another weak grunt of pain.

"Kind of a cheap move if you don't even have to aim." Kuwabara said, smirking at Yusuke.

"What!" Yusuke yelled. Allia laughed as Yusuke turned to glare at Kuwabara.

"W-what?" A weak voice in front of them asked. Kuwabara turned his smirk towards Inmaki.

"When there was only one direction you could come from it was easy. I just had to sense your spirit energy from around the corner." Inmaki let out a pained gasp.

Yusuke pointed his finger like a gun again. "And taking my cue from Kuwabara here, I just fired a major shotgun blast to cover the whole stretch of the hallway. Clever, huh?" Yusuke finished as Inmaki's unconscious form fell to the floor. The sound of a camera turning to face them got the boy's attention. Yusuke and Kuwabara smirked and said "One more!" together as they faced the camera.

Botan smiled at Allia and the others. "Let's get going!"

They soon were running down another hallway, though this one's walls were a pale blue color instead of the yellow they had grown used to. Botan and Allia were running in front of Yusuke and Kuwabara. Allia glanced behind her in time to see Yusuke and Kuwabara suddenly stop. "Watch out!" Kuwabara yelled. Allia grabbed Botan's jacket to stop her from running any further. Out of nowhere the wall beside two girls was blown apart. Botan and Allia let out a scream as huge chunks of debris came crashing down around them. Suddenly two large hands appeared from the cloud of dust behind them, grabbing the girls and lifting them up into the air. Botan dropped her backpack as she and Allia struggled to get free. A deep frightening voice started laughing behind them. Allia looked up as the dust cleared and saw that a giant demon with reddish brown skin and hair and three horns jutting out of his forehead was the one holding onto her and Botan.

"The name's Gokumonki, third demon of the Triad." He said. Botan and Allia continued to struggle against his hold on them.

"I'll write it on your gravestone." Yusuke said as he powered up his spirit gun.

"Are you sure you won't hit your friends?" Gokumonki asked.

"Yes! Good question!" Botan yelled

"Dirty trick.." Allia heard Yusuke mumble.

Gokumonki laughed again as he moved Botan over to the hand he was holding Allia with. The girls watched in fear as the giant demon grabbed the spiked club hung on his back and swung it down towards Yusuke and Kuwabara. The club ripped through the ceiling as it came crashing down on the boys. Allia and Botan yelled as bits of wood and cement flew up around them. Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped and flipped out of harms way. Kuwabara gathered his energy into his hand again and summoned his glowing yellow spirit sword.

"Very good.." Gokumonki mumbled as Kuwabara charged towards him. Gokumonki swung his club down on Kuwabara again only this time it was met with Kuwabara's sword. Kuwabara struggled against the wait of the oversized weapon before after a final grunt of effort the energy forming his sword seemed to shatter and he stumbled forward.

"Uh oh..." Kuwabara said as his spirit sword faded away.

"What the hell was that?" Yusuke yelled at him.

"I was afraid of hitting Botan and Allia! I must have held back to much energy!" Suddenly Gokumonki swung his club through the air again and struck Kuwabara in the stomach. Kuwabara let out a yell of pain as he was swung through the air. Allia and Botan watched in fear as Kuwabara's body was flung into the nearby wall where it rolled several feet down the hall until it crashed into a heap on the floor.

"Kuwabara!" The girls yelled.

"Hey!" Yusuke yelled, his voice coated with worry. He ducked under the demon's large legs as he ran towards his hurt friend. "Can you get up?" Yusuke asked. Kuwabara slowly moved into a sitting position as Gokumonki laughed again.

"You don't have the nerve to attack me as long as I have these girls." He said as he swung Allia and Botan back and forth.

"Shoot.."Kuwabara mumbled as he wiped the trail of blood from his mouth.

"Unless you have another plan I'm going to start the crushing!" The beast reached his arm back as he prepared to smash his club down on them again.

"Botan! Raise your arms!" Yusuke yelled at her. Botan and Allia shared a look before Botan lifted her arms into the air and promptly slid out of her jacket onto the ground. Allia stared at her dumbfounded. _Why didn't we think of that? _She wondered. Yusuke looked back at Allia. The asshole had her by her t-shirt. A closer look at his best friend revealed the light purple tank top barely visible underneath her raised up shirt. "Al! Rip your shirt!" _ He wants me to what? _Allia looked at the large fist holding her captive. It was holding tightly onto the oversized t-shirt she'd changed into before coming here. _Oh...I understand. _ Allia reached her arms behind her as far ash she could reach and grabbed onto the back of her shirt. She ripped the shirt down the back, causing the now overly strained fabric to continue tearing until she to fell with a thud onto the floor. She jumped back up off the ground and ran to where Botan was now standing behind the boys.

"Stupid." she heard them mumble as Gokumonki let out an infuriated growl. Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped into the air as the demon lunged for them. Allia watched as a foot on each boy began to glow with their collected energy as they each landed a kick on Gokumonki's wide chest. Their kicks sent the beast crashing into the wall behind him where he fell to the ground in the rubble. The demons head slumped to the side as he lost consciousness. Yusuke and Kuwabara stood in front of the demon as Botan ran to retrieve her jacket.

"Oh yeah!" Yusuke said as he pounded his fist into his open hand.

The familiar sound of a camera turning to look at them caught their attention. Laughing, the four of them began to wave at the camera.

"Hey Tarukane! We're coming to get you!" Kuwabara yelled.

Allia turned to face Yusuke. She jabbed him in the side with her finger. "Ouch1" he yelled laughing, "What was that for?"

"You owe me a shirt, Dummy." Allia said wrapping her arms around her now exposed shoulders. It was cold here.

Yusuke looked at the thin tank top she'd been wearing under her t-shirt. "Deal. But hey! At least you were wearing something underneath!" He laughed.

Allia smacked him the stomach, _hard._ "Shut up. Let's go find this dirtbag and save Yukina." Yusuke smirked at her.

"Alright everyone! It's this way!" Botan yelled as they headed down the hall again.

**There you go! The next chapter will be up soon. And I actually mean it this time! Reviews are appreciated, I'd love to know how I'm doing or if you have any questions I'll try my best to answer them! See ya next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Look! I actually updated soon like I said I would! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I love knowing people like my story. :) Well, I hate taking up your time with these things, so ONWARD TO GLORIOUS.. uh, reading I guess ;)**

******Disclaimer: I own nothing Yu Yu Hakusho and any dialogue you may recognize comes from epsiodes 24 and 25 of the anime. I also own nothing of The Script.**

_Recap: Yusuke and Kuwabara defeated the last two members of the Demon Triad. Now, with all of Tarukane's guards gone, all that's left is saving Yukina. Or is something else waiting for them somewhere in the stronghold?_

_I've been beat up and robbed, I've been left for dead. For the way I look, for the things I said__. And when trouble thinks it's found us__, the world falls down around us__, I promise baby, you won't ever, you won't ever feel a thing. (The Script: You Won't Feel a Thing)_

The foursome took off down another hallway, Botan and her compass leading the way. Allia looked at their surroundings as they ran. They had finally made it through the previous blue hallway into a smaller one with the same pale yellow walls as before. Allia noticed that fewer and fewer halls branched off from this main one. _We must be getting close then..._ Allia suppressed the urge to shiver. That bad feeling she had gotten back in the forest was even stronger now. She knew something dangerous was waiting for them. Her instincts told her she should stop. That it would be best for her to run away from this place. But Allia couldn't help but think of Yukina's face and how sad she looked in that video. Who knew what torture Tarukane had been putting the poor girl through. They couldn't just leave her here. So against her better judgment, Allia pushed those bad feelings aside. If Fate chose to lash out against her stubbornness, well then she'd deal with those consequences later. Right now, they had a girl to save.

"All we gotta do is stop Tarukane, and that'll be easy greasy!"(1) Kuwabara said, looking over at Yusuke.

A series of high pitched beeps erupted out of Botan's watch. She stumbled to a stop and let out a worried gasp. "Maybe not."

"What now?" Yusuke said stopping beside her. Allia walked over to Botan's other side and stared at the device on her wrist. The needle on her compass was shifting to the right.

"Hold on..." Kuwabara mumbled, " Yeah, I can definitely feel it. There moving Yukina!"

"What?" Allia asked. _This isn't good. _The bad feeling Allia had intensified and she rubbed her hand down her arm to try and remove the goosebumps that had risen along it.

"How can you tell?" Yusuke asked.

"We're attached, remember?" Kuwabara said, grinning at the other three. Allia and Yusuke exchanged a skeptical look before glancing back at Kuwabara.

"You're attached?" Allia asked the smiling orange-haired boy.

Kuwabara nodded. "Lets see if I can get her attention.." Kuwabara placed his left pointer finger to his temple and began muttering Yukina's name.

Botan, Yusuke, and Allia shared another look as Kuwabara turned away from them. Allia heard him mutter "It's me, Kuwabara."

"Is he alright?" She whispered to Yusuke and Botan.

"I'm not sure..." Botan answered.

"She said my name!" Kuwabara yelled suddenly, scaring Allia.

"Who did?" She asked.

Kuwabara ignored her and continued talking to who she could only guess was Yukina. "Never fear, I am Kuwabara!" he said, summoning his spirit sword, "I have come here for you. And with my sensitive eye and big shiny sword I will save you. Then we can date, right?" He finished with a chuckle. Allia shook her head at Kuwabara and his flare for the dramatics.

The three jumped when Kuwabara suddenly collapsed to the floor yelling "What did you say? Oh, the pain!"

A minute later Kuwabara was pushing himself off the floor, chuckling again. "Don't worry, we've already taken care of them all."

Kuwabara was silent for a minute before shaking his head. "There must be a mistake. I don't even sense there spirit energy." Kuwabara looked up towards the ceiling and smiled. "Look baby, we'll be there soon."

"Did he hit his head against that wall Gokumonki flung him into earlier?" Allia finally asked.

"Maybe.." Yusuke answered, staring towards his friend as if he'd grown a second head.

"Or maybe Kuwabara really can communicate with Yukina." Botan said looking at the two of them.

"How would he do that? She's somewhere hidden in this mansion." Allia looked at Kuwabara and the confident smile still plastered on his face.

"I guess through telepathy." Botan answered. Kuwabara turned to face the others.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"

Down the hall they ran, though this time Kuwabara had taken the lead. "I've got a definite lock on her now, and I don't care if she wants us to or not, we're saving my love!" He led them through a door at the end of the hall and down a cramped stone staircase.

"Hurry!" Kuwabara yelled to them.

"Ooh, a basement." Yusuke muttered. Allia rolled her eyes at her friend as they all picked up the pace.

At the end of the stairs the room widened to reveal what Allia could only assume was a sort of demon animal prison. Large glass cages stood side-by-side, inside them some of the ugliest creatures she had ever seen. One creature was pressed up against the glass, its long, deformed mouth hanging open and small beady eyes staring at them as they passed.

"Ugh, what _are _these things?" Yusuke shouted beside her.

"Disgusting, I'd say!" Botan said, looking away from the beast.

"No kidding!" Allia said.

"Come on guys, we don't have time for that!" Kuwabara yelled back at them. They ran faster to catch up to him. Allia looked ahead to see a single door in front of them. The light shining through the door was growing smaller by the second.

"The door's closing." Yusuke said, pointing towards it.

"Hurry!" Kuwabara shouted again. The foursome charged through the door, Allia just barely making it through before it slammed shut behind her. They stopped and stared at the huge room they now stood in. The roof was domed and three large structures hung down from the ceiling. Allia wasn't quite sure what they were for. On the wall opposite them was a huge window. Allia could see Tarukane's ugly face staring down at them. Below him the faces of five other men Allia didn't recognize appeared on screens. All but one appeared to be middle-aged or older. The younger one looked to be in his late twenties with long slicked-back black hair and a thin scar running down the side of his face.

Standing directly across from them was an extremely muscular man, with a short, thin man with untidy hair sitting on his shoulder. Allia's stomach knotted in fear as she looked at them. This was where her bad feeling had been coming from, she just knew it. Something was off about these two men. She wanted to warn Yusuke to be careful, but her voice died in her throat.

"I take it we have one more fight." Yusuke said to Kuwabara.

"Forget it, there total spirit energy couldn't hurt a wingless fly." Kuwabara said, looking around the room. _Your wrong, Kuwabara. _Allia thought. _Something isn't right about them. It's like there hiding something._

"There she is!" Kuwabara suddenly shouted. Allia looked to where he was staring. There Yukina stood, flanked by two tall men in suits. She was staring away from them, as if she knew something awful was about to happen below her.

"Don't worry, we're coming for you soon." Kuwabara said. Yukina looked down at them finally, worry etched on her face.

A high-pitched laugh floated across the room towards them. Allia looked over at the two men again. The smaller one had a wicked grin on his face. As the taller, more muscular one began to speak a chill ran down Allia's spine. She resisted the urge to shiver.

"Welcome. Try not to be too hard on us. We're fragile," he said.

Suddenly a burst of light came from above them and Allia realized the strange structures she'd noticed before were actually lights meant to light the arena they were standing in. She looked away from their brightness, blinking away the spots in her eyes, and focused once more on the people across from them.

"So I guess this is the big finish." Yusuke muttered beside her.

"I can't wait." Kuwabara said. He looked back up towards Yukina.

"Hey Toguro! Don't blow this!" A deep, raspy voice yelled from above. Allia looked up to see that the speaker was a nervous looking Tarukane. _Wonder what's got him looking so jumpy? _She wondered.

The men in the screen above them began to mumble to each other. Allia couldn't quite hear what they were talking about, but she thought she heard something about an extremely large wager. _Are these freaks betting on who wins? _She thought, outraged that all those men could care so little about another person's life. Then men began to laugh as they looked down at them.

"Hey, who are those people? There watching us risk our lives like its funny." Kuwabara said.

"It's awful..." Botan said, looking over at the screen.

"If we get tired, please, allow us to tap out," the taller man said. The smaller one's eery, high-pitched laugh echoed across the room again.

"Don't listen Urameshi. I got a feeling these guys are up to something." Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke. _Good, _Allia thought, _He's noticed it too. _

"No joke.." Yusuke whispered back.

"But judging from their spirit energy, we shouldn't worry. Their weaklings." Kuwabara said, that confident grin lighting up his face again.

"No. Wait," Yusuke said. The other three looked at him. Allia saw that he looked extremely tense. "I can't really explain it, but my whole body's getting this weird vibe. Its like there's something _big_ in here..."

"I feel it too." Allia whispered hoarsely. Yusuke looked at her and saw the worry clouding her big brown eyes.

"I don't feel nothing." Kuwabara whispered to them.

Allia looked up when she saw the smaller man move out of the corner of her eye. She watched as he climbed across the muscular mans shoulders onto his raised right arm. With a flourish and a high pitched scream the thin man threw off his dark blue jacket. Allia watched, appalled, as his body began to twist and contort around the other mans arm.

"What's that little guy doing?" Kuwabara asked, surprise coating his voice.

"I bet he's really popular at parties" Yusuke mumbled.

"You see, my brother's able to transform the shape of his body," the tall man said to them, "It's nothing really."

_Nothing my ass,_ Allia thought. The taller man's brother had shifted his body into the shape of a large, pointed sword.

"He just turned into a-a sword!" she heard Kuwabara yell.

"This is my brother's specialty," the man said as he swung his newly acquired weapon around, "And mine.." He drew in a deep breath and let it out in a slow growl. The air around him began to swirl with energy as his body began to pulsate. His shirt ripped as the muscles along his shoulders and chest expanded. The foursome watched in fear as every inch of the man grew until he looked like he could crush their heads simply by squeezing them in his arms.

"Oh dear.." Botan whispered.

"Even further, my spirit energy surrounds my brother and makes him indestructible. You see, the Toguro's truly fight as one." A gust of wind came soaring over to the four of them as Toguro's energy began to swirl around him. They each covered their face and tried to stop from being blown back from the wind.

"Woah! You feel this?" Kuwabara yelled.

"What's up with his power?" Yusuke yelled back. "Dammit, this isn't gonna be easy!"

Yusuke looked over to Botan and Allia. "The two of you, step back."

"We'll try." Botan said. She looked over at Allia and nodded. A sudden gasp from Yusuke grabbed Allia's attention. Toguro was charging over towards them, sword raised.

They all yelled in shock as Toguro covered the distance between them in seconds. He swung the sword down on them with incredible force. Yusuke grabbed Botan and Kuwabara grabbed Allia and dove out of the way just seconds before the weapon crashed into the floor sending chunks of cement flying everywhere. The boys set the girls down. Allia gasped in shock when she saw that a long hole was now sliced through Kuwabara's jacket. She looked over towards Yusuke and saw that he had a similar cut on his jacket as well.

Kuwabara yelled in frustration and summoned his spirit sword. In mere seconds though, Toguro was there, swinging his sword down upon Kuwabara again.

"Too slow.." He said. Kuwabara managed to block the weapon with his own. Allia heard him grunt in effort as he strained to keep the sword at bay. Suddenly, Toguro swung his fist toward him. Kuwabara jumped to try and avoid the punch but he was too slow and Torguro's fist went crashing into his stomach. Allia watch in fear as Kuwabara coughed up blood before being thrown into the wall behind them.

"No!" Yusuke yelled.

"Ku-kuwabara.."Allia mumbled as the boy struggled to stay on his feet. She glanced up at Toguro. He looked even more frightening up close. After a quick breath to gather her courage, she jumped to her feet and ran to where Kuwabara now stood.

"Hm, managed to step back just enough to avoid a fatal blow. I'm surprised you had enough intellect to do that." Toguro taunted. Kuwabara glared angrily back at him.

"Allia, go over to Yusuke where it's safe." Kuwabara whispered to her. She was going to argue, but the desperate look in his eyes warned her not to. She nodded her head at him and whispered "Be careful," before running over to Yusuke and Botan

"But you won't have to scrape along the floor much longer," Toguro said, gathering his energy around him again. "Come now, Brother. Let's send him to Spirit World"

Allia watched in fear as Toguro prepared to attack. Yusuke growled in frustration before taking off towards the dangerous man.

"Hey! Forgetting something stupid!" Yusuke screamed. He stopped directly across from Toguro and aimed his spirit gun. A bullet of energy burst forth from Yusuke's finger and flew through the air towards Toguro. Botan and Allia gasped in shock as he barely managed to jump away from Yusuke's attack.

"Yusuke!" Allia shouted.

Yusuke looked up to see the wide form of Toguro above him. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear!" Yusuke said. He grabbed his wrist and pointed his closed fist at Toguro. "Shotgun!" The same blast of energy that defeated Inmaki erupted from Yusuke's fist. Allia thought she saw a shimmer of light appear before Toguro just before the blast hit. The foursome watched as Toguro's body, now shrouded in smoke, hit the floor with a BANG! Yusuke stumbled as the ground shook from the force of the drop.

"Son of a bitch..." he mumbled. The smoke cleared to reveal a standing and unscathed Toguro.

"No way." Allia whispered to herself.

"Yes, he must think quite _low_ of us, Brother. As if we can't deflect a little energy." the seemingly untouchable foe said. Allia saw Yusuke's body begin to shake in what she could only assume to be anger and desperation, before he took off running towards Toguro. Toguro stood there as Yusuke drew even nearer. When Yusuke was a mere feet in front of him brought his sword up and prepared to swing it down on Yusuke's head. As the sword neared its mark, Yusuke quickly jumped into the air to dodge. Allia saw Toguro's look of surprise as Yusuke appeared beside him, spirit gun pointed directly at his face.

"How about point blank?" Yusuke yelled as he fired. Toguro just barely had time to raise his arms before the blast engulfed him.

Botan laughed in joy at the perfect hit and Allia heard Kuwabara yell "Alright!" from his place across the room.

"Hard to block, huh?" Yusuke said as he landed a few feet from where Toguro had been standing. "Don't worry, I hear _headless_ is in this year."

The smoke that had surrounded Toguro's body began to dissipate. Allia's stomach dropped when she saw Toguro standing there, body still intact, though now he was holding a shield instead of the lethal looking sword from before.

"What the..." Yusuke mumbled. He stared at the shield wrapped around Toguro's wrist. "I don't believe this. He turns into a shield too?"

Toguro smirked before suddenly smashing his fist into Yusuke's face. Yusuke flew back, dragging along the ground, until he landed feet away from Kuwabara.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Did I forget to tell you?" Toguro said, smirking at the pain he'd caused. "My brother makes an excellent defensive weapon."

Kuwabara glared at him. "You're heartless!"

Botan and Allia watched as Yusuke struggled to get up from the floor. "Yusuke!" Botan yelled.

Yusuke and Kuwabara stood up from the ground together, the pain from their wounds making it difficult.

"I was only being a professional." Toguro said. He smirked before charging towards the boys, yelling "Though I was hoping you would provide me much more entertainment than this!"

He attacked Kuwabara first, kicking him so hard in the stomach he flew into the air. Before Kuwabara could come crashing back down though, Toguro jumped into the air behind him. He slammed his fists down on the young boy's back and sent him smashing into the floor below.

"They're helpless..." Botan whispered beside Allia. Allia looked at Botan. She was right. It didn't look like the boys would be able to win this fight. _Please, Yusuke._ Allia though as she looked back at him. _Find some way out of this. You _have _to win. _

Toguro jumped through the air and landed in front of Yusuke. Yusuke tried jumping back to avoid his attacker, but he was too slow. Toguro rammed his shield into the side of Yusuke's face, knocking him back.

"Oh no.." Botan whispered. She grabbed onto Allia's arm. Allia winced as Botan squeezed her forearm tightly, but didn't remove the girl's hold on her. She hoped the contact might help her frightened friend.

Toguro continued to beat the boys. Their shouts of pain echoing across the arena. Allia thought her heart might stop when she saw Yusuke cough up blood after a brutal punch from Toguro in the stomach. Yusuke dropped to his knees, his arms wrapped around himself as his body shook from the pain he was in. Toguro kicked him right in the jaw and then lifted him off the ground by the back of his jacket. He threw Yusuke aside and then kicked Kuwabara over to where Yusuke had landed.

Toguro had his brother shift back into a sword again before running up and kicking Yusuke in the stomach again, sending him rolling across the arena floor.

"Let...him go!" Kuwabara shouted weakly.

"Kuwabara..." Allia whispered. She watched as he struggled to lift his head up from the floor.

"Feel free to take a little extra time with them Toguro! I know how all you demon creatures are into torturing. Besides, my Black Black Club could use some good dirty fun. Ha!" Allia heard Tarukane's voice say from a speaker near the large window. _What a disgusting man. _Allia thought as she glared up at him. _Wait, did he say that these two brothers were demons?_ _That explains how powerful they are. _Allia finally understood the strange feeling she had been getting. Just like with Hiei, Allia could tell from the start that though they appeared human, something was definitely different about them. They were powerful and dangerous demons. No wonder just the sight of them sent a chill down her spine.

Toguro kicked Yusuke across the floor once more before stopping and standing in front of the weakened boy.

"Tarukane is wrong." he said, laughing as he stared down at Yusuke. "I don't like torture. At least, not when they're to pathetic to even defend themselves." He grabbed Yusuke by the front of his jacket and lifted him off the ground.

"Disgraceful!" Kuwabara's voice rang across the arena. Every head turned to stare at the now standing boy. Allia was surprised to see Kuwabara's glowing yellow energy radiating off of his body. "And you call yourself a man!" he yelled.

"Seeing you live makes me sick..." Anger dripped from every word Kuwabara spoke.

"Interesting.." Toguro said, laughing. "Your spirit power has increased greatly."

Toguro tossed Yusuke's body to the side. "You'll be much more fun than this carcass."

As soon as Yusuke's body hit the ground, Allia and Botan ran to him. They knelt down to the ground beside him. "Oh.." Botan whispered as she looked at Yusuke's battered body.

"Yusuke.." Allia whispered.

"Get lost!" Kuwabara shouted at Toguro. "I'll have to deal with you and your brother some other time. Tarukane's the one I was talking to!" Kuwabara glared up at the window to Tarukane.

"What? You wanna beat _me_ up?" Tarukane's laughed. "Sorry kid, but I'm to expensive! Toguro! I want this creep fried _extra crispy!_"

"You heard him. We don't have a choice." Toguro said.

Kuwabara let out a frustrated growl before summoning his spirit sword again. "Get out of my way!" He shouted before charging at Toguro. Allia, Botan, and Yusuke watched as the sword Toguro was holding shifted to form the shield around his hand again. Kuwabara swung his sword at him, but Toguro blocked his attack with his shield. Kuwabara swung over and over again, each slashed being blocked by the powerful demon. Suddenly, Toguro's fist swung around and slammed into Kuwabara's stomach sending him flying back to where Yusuke and the girls were.

"Your attacks are very slow. We can easily predict your every move." Toguro taunted.

"Kuwabara..." Yusuke whispered.

"Hey... Urameshi." Kuwabara mumbled. "I need a favor."

"Huh?" Yusuke asked.

"Okay Toguro! You've had enough fun. I wanna start collecting my money!" Tarukane said, his loud obnoxious laughter ringing throughout the room.

"Come on, Brother." Allia heard Toguro say.

She turned to face Kuwabara again as he began to speak. "That freak's right, Urameshi. I'm not fast enough to hit him. So I need you to use your spirit gun to launch me towards him."

"What?" Yusuke asked.

"If you hit me with your spirit gun, I can fly over there fast enough to hit him before he kills me. Please, Urameshi." Kuwabara said, looking towards Toguro.

"It's too dangerous. Let's wait." Botan pleaded.

Yusuke shook his head. "You know how fast they move. This'll only get you killed quicker."

"Yusuke and Botan are right, Kuwabara. There has to be another way." Allia said.

"You haven't seen what I have!" Kuwabara said, his voice rising in anger. "You don't know what they've done to her! _Please!_"

Yusuke stared at his friend. "Fine." he whispered, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Then I've got your back."

Kuwabara stood up and grabbed the hilt of his spirit sword with both hands. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah.." Yusuke whispered.

Kuwabara let out a yell as he charged towards Toguro again. "They wanna die with honor." Toguro said, raising his sword. "Yes, Brother. Respect their wish!"

As soon as Kuwabara was near enough he jumped into the air. Toguro stood there, prepared to attack the boy when he was within range of his sword. "The battle ends!" Toguro yelled.

Yusuke jumped to his feet and aimed his spirit gun. "Kuwabara! Here it comes!" He shouted before firing the bullet of energy at Kuwabara's back. The blast hit him and with one final yell Kuwabara was shot forwards at Toguro. With as much energy as he could muster, Kuwabara stabbed his spirit sword through Toguro's stomach. Yusuke fell back down to his knees as he stared at the wounded demon.

"Ingenious plan. You fighters are truly something." Toguro managed to say before his body fell back and crashed onto the floor. Kuwabara landed on the ground beside Toguro's body.

"W-what just happened?" Allia heard Tarukane yell over the loud speaker.

"Simple, old friend." The young man with black hair said. "You've lost the bet. I believe that 66 trillion, 50 billion, and 200 million is the total you now owe me." The screen showing him suddenly went blank. Soon after, the screens showing the other four men shut off too. Allia looked up to see a visibly flustered Tarukane looking down at them. She watched as he backed away from the window, turning to another man in the room with him.

Allia looked back down at Yusuke before a sudden crash brought her attention back to the window above them.

"Oh goodness! Hiei!" Botan yelled.

"Hiei's here?" Yusuke asked. They watched as Hiei slammed his fists into Tarukane's face over and over again.

"We have to do something!" Botan yelled, jumping to her feet. "Regardless of what Tarukane deserves, Hiei is forbidden to take human life! He'll be punished severely!"

Allia helped Yusuke to his feet as they both watched Hiei continue to attack Tarukane.

"Stop it, Hiei!" Yusuke yelled up at him. "Don't kill him!"

Allia saw Hiei stop and look down at them. She watched as he grabbed the front of Tarukane's shirt and prepared to hit him again. Suddenly, Yukina grabbed Hiei's arm, stopping the punch. Hiei backed away from Tarukane and faced Yukina.

"Looks like things have turned out okay." Botan said.

"Yeah." Yusuke said. Allia nodded her head in agreement. A sudden noise from beside them got their attention. Kuwabara was struggling into a sitting position. The three of them ran over to him. A door opened from the side and Yukina ran over. She was a very short girl, about Allia's height. She came over to stand beside Yusuke. Yusuke looked over and smiled at her.

"Everybody's okay, but why don't you go see him to make sure." He said, motioning towards Kuwabara. Yukina walked over and knelt down beside him. Kuwabara grunted in pain as he shifted to face her. She took his face in her hands.

"Y-yukina." he mumbled.

"Stay still. I can use some of my power to heal your wounds." She said. Her hands began to glow bright blue.

"Hey," Yusuke whispered, turning to face the girls. "Let's go see whats happening upstairs." Botan cocked her head to the side in confusion, before realization hit her.

"Oh yes, of course! Good ol' upstairs!" she said before following Yusuke. Allia smiled at the two sitting on the ground before following as well.

They walked up the stairs to see Hiei standing by the window, looking down at the two in the arena.

"Well, we got a full house, huh?" Yusuke said as he looked around the room. Allia saw something move beside her. She turned to see a tall boy with long red hair standing in the corner. _No way..._ Allia thought. It was the other boy from her dream, she was sure of it. Allia got the same strange feeling from this boy as she had with Hiei when she first saw him. _So that must mean he's a demon too._ He looked over and smiled at them. Hiei glanced at those in the room before moving away from the window and walking out the door. The red haired boy moved to stand beside Yusuke and the two boys shared a look before watching Hiei leave. Yusuke looked at Allia.

"Hey Al, let me introduce you. This is Kurama." Yusuke said, motioning towards the boy beside him. "And Kurama, this is my friend, Allia." Kurama smiled politely at her.

"Its nice to meet you." He said. Allia smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you, too. You're a demon, right?" She asked. Kurama's already large green eyes widened in surprise.

"Um, yes. I am." He said.

"Huh, how'd you know that Al?" Yusuke asked, facing her.

"Just a feeling..." she said, her face reddening slightly as everyone stared at her.

"Allia's spiritually aware, like Kuwabara is." Botan explained to Kurama. He nodded his head in understanding.

"Well, shall we get going?" Kurama asked. "I think it'd be best to get Yukina home now." Yusuke stretched his arms above his head.

"Yeah, let's go. Man, I'm going to sleep for a week after this mess," he said walking towards the door. Allia jabbed him in the back with her finger.

"You'll still be going to school though, _right?_" She said.

"Oh, come on!" Yusuke complained. Allia shoved him out the door before he could finish whining. She heard Botan and Kurama laughing behind her. _I can't believe this is Yusuke's job, _she thought. _I hope he talks to that boss of his soon. I want to know if all of his cases have been as dangerous as this one was._

_**(1) I take a lot of the dialogue straight from the anime, since this is supposed to be a sort of retelling of the anime from my character's point of view. Normally, I just watch the episode and go from there, but for the life of me I could not figure out if that was what Kuwabara was actually saying. So if I'm wrong and anyone could correct me, I'd appreciate it. :) **_

**Well, there you go! I hope you liked it. The next chapter will be out soon. I'll try to update about every week or two. I might be rewriting the first chapter of this story soon though, I'm still not very happy with it. Well, review if you have any comments or questions. I'd love to hear them! :) See-ya!**


	8. Chapter 8

**LOOK AT ME!**

**LOOK AT ME!**

**I just want everyone to know that the first chapter of this story has been completely rewritten, so please go check that out. I've added a little bit of background to Allia's character so it's kinda important that you go back to that. Other than that, your all set to read the next installment of What's Written in Stone! (Just so you know, I watched Finding Nemo about six times while writing this. It took all myself control to not have Kuwabara singing "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!" or to not have Allia speaking whale at some point during this... I probably shouldn't watch movies while I write this. I watch a lot of romantic comedies. Imagine what that might do to this story XD) If you want, you can review to let me know what you think of the new first chapter. And don't forget to let me know what you think of this one too!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Yu Yu Hakusho and any dialogue you may recognize comes from episode 26. I also own nothing of Seungri or MoA.**

_Recap: Yusuke and Kuwabara defeated the extremely powerful Toguro brothers, nearly losing their own lives. Yukina was rescued and the case was closed. So that means everything can go back to normal, right?_

* * *

_Now what should I do? I'm dying inside 'cuz I'm longing to hold you. Don't think I can take it any longer, I'm losing hope. So what should I do? (Seungri: What Should I Do, English Cover by MoA)_

"Something's really come over him. I bet he's changing his image," Kuwabara's friend Okubo said, holding out his hand for money.

"I bet he saw a movie and now he's acting it out."

"No way! I say Kuwabara got rejected by a girl!" Miyamoto said, grinning at his two friends as he placed money in Okubo's hand as well.

"Bulls eye, Miyamoto!" Yusuke said, laughing.

"Now wait," Botan said from her place beside Yusuke, "Kuwabara was _not_ rejected."

"Well what else do you call Yukina dumping out on him and running back to the ice world?" Yusuke mumbled.

Botan clasped her hands together and let out a happy sigh. "It's a long distance relationship. _It's romantic._"

Allia shook her head at all of them. They had been walking home from school when suddenly Kuwabara had stopped to stare off into the distance. Allia felt for the boy. It had to hurt to have the love of your life worlds away from you. Kuwabara let out a sigh, and then turned to start walking again. Everyone's eyes followed him as he walked down the road away from them. Realizing he wouldn't be stopping anytime soon, Kuwabara's gang shouted after him and ran to catch up.

"He really is down.." Yusuke said, staring after his friend.

"Yes. Not every closed case comes with a happy ending." Botan said, turning to look at Yusuke and Allia.

"Guess that goes for Hiei too." Yusuke said.

"Yes, I know. I heard that he still refuses to tell Yukina that he is her brother."

"That's right..." Yusuke mumbled.

"But why?" Allia asked, "Wouldn't they both be happier if she knew?" Yusuke smiled sadly at her.

"Not according to Hiei. He's says it's best if he just keeps an eye on her from a distance," he told her.

Allia shook her head. She knew how lonely it could be when you had no idea who your family was. She could imagine how hard it was for Hiei to watch her leave, knowing she would never know how much he cared about her.

"Well, there's plenty of good news too!" Botan said, trying to lighten up the situation. The three of them were walking through the uptown part of the city now. Botan locked arms with Allia as they walked through a crowd of people. "You boys did kill the Toguro brothers and save Yukina. And Hiei was kept from killing Tarukane. I would have _hated _ordering you to arrest him."

Yusuke stopped and looked at her angrily. "Give me a break! That would have sucked!"

"And that is precisely why there was so much ado in the Spirit World about letting Hiei find out. He's considered a very valuable asset now." Botan said leaning forward.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and kept walking. Botan smiled and followed, pulling Allia along behind her. "Now you see why we sent Hiei with the video tape. Just to keep him distracted!"

"Are all you people in charge of Spirit World just _stupid_? What if he looked at the tape? Ever think about that?"

Botan laughed. "Maybe. But the fact of the matter is, _he didn't! _So ha!" Botan shoved Yusuke so hard he stumbled up the street in front of them. Yusuke looked back at her and Allia, confused. Allia started laughing as well.

"Enjoy your shopping!" Botan called to him. She pulled on Allia's arm again, and the two of them started walking away.

"Buy me a new shirt, Yusuke! Don't forget you still owe me one!" Allia said. She and Botan waved goodbye to him as Keiko walked up.

"Hey!" Allia heard Keiko say to Yusuke, "you're late."

Botan and Allia walked down another, more secluded road. "Well, I guess I better be getting back to Spirit World." Botan said. She looked around to make sure no one was watching before summoning her oar. Allia smiled at her new friend.

"Okay. Have a safe trip then." Botan smiled back at her.

"What are you planning on doing today, Allia?" she asked. Allia looked around them.

"I don't know. I think I might just walk around for a bit. It's so nice out today."

Botan hopped onto her oar. It still amazed Allia to see the girl floating feet off the ground. "It is nice out. Well, enjoy your walk! I'm sure I'll see you soon!" Botan said before taking off into the air. Allia waved goodbye to her before heading back out into the crowded street.

Allia walked around the street, looking into store windows, enjoying the warm feeling of the afternoon sun on her face. Her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn't really eaten that day. Allia looked around until she spotted a nice looking raman stand further down the street. Allia payed for her food and then dug in to the delicious meal. It really was such a nice day. A day everyone deserved after how hard that case had been. It scared Allia when she thought of how easily Yusuke and Kuwabara could have died. Hell, how easily they _all _could have been killed._ If Kuwabara's plan hadn't of worked... _Allia shook her head. She didn't want to think about that. They won, Toguro was never coming back to hurt them.

A sudden feeling from behind her had Allia whipping her head around. She scanned the crowd, afraid another one of those monstrous demons might have been following her. As a group of people parted, she saw a familiar tall red head standing in front of a flower shop. Allia hesitated for a moment, before getting up from her seat and walking over to him.

"Buying flowers for your girlfriend?" she teased. She thought she saw the boy tense as she spoke, but the next moment he was turning around, smiling at her, humor shining through his large, emerald eyes. _Must have imagined it.._ she thought. She smiled back at him.

"It's Allia, right?" he asked politely. She nodded her head, motioning towards the flowers in his hand. Kurama laughed as he held them out to her.

"They're for my mother, actually. Well, what do you think? Do you approve?" Allia leaned forward to smell them.

"Are these tulips? They're pretty." Kurama smiled at her. Allia noticed his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, as if he was merely being polite for her sake. Allia frowned.

"My mother's favorite." he said. He studied her face for a moment, "Something the matter, Allia?"

Allia forced a polite smile back onto her face. "No. So, I have a question." Kurama hummed as he looked closely at the flowers in his hands again. Allia took that as permission to ask her question.

"You have a mother? I didn't think demons would..." she'd lowered her voice so no one passing by would hear her question. Kurama looked at her for a moment, before turning around and calmly getting the store owner's attention. He paid for the tulips, and then set off down the street slowly. Allia followed after him, waiting for his answer. Kurama smiled patiently at her.

"We do not merely spring into existence, Allia. Though, I must admit the case with my mother is a bit different then most. But yes, demons are born just as humans are."

"Oh..." Allia mumbled. Hearing the tone he'd answered in made Allia realize just how silly her question had been. Of coursethey are._ How else would Hiei and Yukina be siblings..._ she thought.

Something on her face must have shown because Kurama stopped and said, "I've made you feel foolish. I apologize."

Allia laughed and shook her head. "Don't. It was a stupid question. I guess I always forget that having parents is only a strange concept to me."

Kurama looked at her, confused.

Allia smiled at him and started walking again. She felt Kurama following behind her. "I don't remember my parents," she said finally. Kurama had fallen into step beside her now. She saw him glance at her out of the corner of her eye.

"They're dead? I'm sorry,"

Allia shook her head again. "I have no idea if they're alive or dead. I don't remember."

Allia saw Kurama's eyes widen slightly. "You've no memory of them at all?"

"Nope." Allia said. She looked at Kurama. "You're depressing me. Let's talk about something else." She said lightly.

Kurama narrowed his eyes at her, humor dancing in the emerald orbs again. "I do believe _you_ were the one to bring up parents, Allia." he said.

"_Did I_?" she asked, feigning confusion. Kurama smirked at her.

Allia laughed and asked, "So you go to Meioh, huh?" Kurama looked at her, eyes widening ever-so-slightly in surprise again. "I recognized the uniform," she said, pointing to the pink clothes he was wearing, "You must be pretty smart to go there. So why on earth are you hanging around Yusuke?" she joked.

Kurama laughed quietly, one of his hands covering his mouth. "Yusuke is..."

"Special?" Allia finished, a teasing smirk forming on her face. Kurama laughed again.

"Indeed. He is very _special_." Allia laughed with him. She was about to ask Kurama how he had met Yusuke, but a sudden icy cold fear running down her spine stopped her in her tracks.

"Allia?" Kurama asked, stopping with her. His eyes narrowed as he studied her. "What's wrong."

Allia looked back at the direction they came from. Something was wrong. She could tell. _Yusuke and Keiko were headed that way..._ "Yusuke.." she mumbled out loud. She jumped as she felt someone grab her arm. It was Kurama, and he was looking at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Allia noticed the tulips he'd gotten for his mother were gone.

"Which way?" he asked her. Allia pointed in the direction she thought her feeling was coming from. Kurama nodded and then took off. Allia stood there in shock for a moment, before sprinting after him.

In a matter of seconds they were joined by a slender form in all black. "Hiei?" Allia asked. He glanced at her before moving forward to run beside Kurama.

"You should stay behind where you won't get in the way," he called back to her. Allia glared at the small boy in front of her.

"I'm not really in the way if I'm telling you which direction to go, am I?" she shot back at him. He and Kurama looked back at her. Hiei seemed annoyed by her comment, Kurama looked as if he were trying not to laugh.

The sun was already beginning to set as the threesome finally made their way deeper into the city. Allia could feel that same dangerous vibe from before surrounding them here. They stopped beside a tall deserted office building. Kurama and Hiei looked at her.

"Well? Which way?" Hiei asked impatiently. _Sheesh, no pressure or anything. _Allia thought, annoyed at this boy's lack of manners. She looked around them.

"It's all over the place..." she mumbled. The boys exchanged a glance, before looking back at her.

"What is?" Kurama asked.

"Umm..." Allia said. She could feel herself beginning to blush. She wasn't exactly sure how she could explain the horrible feeling in the air. It made her skin crawl and her stomach turn. Allia looked around again. The office building beside them, something told Allia it would be best to go up there. "The roof.." She mumbled.

"The roof is all over the place?" Hiei asked, looking at her as if he questioned her sanity. Allia was definitely blushing now.

"N-no. I meant, we should go up on the roof. We can see from there."

"See what, exactly?" he asked, that same look still on his face. Allia wished she had something to throw at him. She turned towards the doors of the building.

"_I don't know._ But I... I think we should go up to the roof. Just...trust me, okay?" she was sure Hiei was rolling his eyes at her. She felt someone grab her arm again. Kurama was looking down at her, smiling.

"If you say that's where we should go, then we shall," he walked forward and tested the door, "Its locked," he called back at them.

"Then _unlock _it," Hiei said. Allia raised her eyebrows at him. _How does he expect him to-_

"Well, come on you two," Kurama said, holding the now _unlocked _door open. Hiei walked inside. Allia stood there, staring at the crimson haired boy.

"They teach you how to break into places in Meioh?"

Kurama smirked at her. "Not really. That is something I learned a long time ago," he gestured inside the building, "Ladies first."

"You just called Hiei a lady," Allia said walking inside. Kurama let out a snort of laughter before quickly covering his mouth with his hand and following her through the door.

The building was dark inside, and it smelled like it had just been cleaned. They debated on just taking the elevator up to the highest floor possible and then finding their way to the roof, but Hiei refused to step inside the small metal box, saying he didn't trust any machine made by a human. So Kurama unlocked the door to the stairs and motioned for Allia to take the lead. They ran up flight after flight of stairs. Allia could see from one of the small windows they passed that it had gotten dark outside. Finally, after what felt like forever, the made it to the door that would take them out onto the roof. Allia stepped aside so Kurama could unlock this door as well. As he pushed the door open, Allia felt a terrifyingly familiar energy slam into her. She stumbled back a bit, nearly bumping into Hiei. Kurama grabbed her arm to steady her and asked, "Are you alright, Allia?"

Allia swallowed against the lump in her throat and nodded her head. _No, no, no. This isn't possible. _ She stepped away from the two boys and ran to the edge of the roof. A giant cloud of dust was settling just across the street from them. Allia scanned the debris. She could feel Yusuke near her. A figure in blue caught her eye. Kuwabara was standing on the roof of a building directly across from them. He was staring down at what was left of what Allia assumed was once a parking garage. She followed his line of sight, and finally spotted the green-clad form of her best friend. "Yusuke..." she mumbled. He was kneeling on the ground. Allia swore she could see his body shaking, even from as far away as she was. She heard footsteps behind her. Hiei and Kurama were walking to the edge of the roof a little ways away from her. She glanced once more at her friend, before walking over to them.

Suddenly, Kurama raised his hand to stop her. Allia froze. She went to ask him what was wrong, but a voice from the ground silenced her.

"I assume from your dismal faces that you've been invited to the competition as well. On Urameshi's team, no doubt." It was Toguro's voice. She'd know that deep, sinister voice anywhere.

"Demons, who side with humans, will get _no_ sympathy."

"Sympathy has _never_ been a part of those fights." Kurama said.

"As you know, the teams are made of five, so you'll have to recruit another fighter. For your sake, I hope you find someone useful." Allia could hear the laughter in Toguro's voice, even without seeing his face. She saw Kurama look at Hiei.

"What is our chance?" he asked.

Hiei turned away from him and walked towards the stairwell door. "Don't ask."

Kurama sighed as he watched Hiei leave. Allia stepped towards Kurama. "What competition was he talking about?" she asked him. Allia saw him nearly jump in surprise at the sound of her voice. He'd forgotten she was there. _Did Toguro scare him that much too? _She wondered.

"Its a very dangerous fighting competition." He answered.

"And you all are going to do it?"

Kurama turned towards her, a grim look on his face. "Those invited have no choice but to participate."

Allia felt her heart clench in fear. They were going to have to risk their lives in some crazy tournament, and it was all because that monster on the ground wanted them to. Allia didn't know whether to scream or cry at how frustrating it was.

Kurama looked away from her. "We should check on Yusuke." Allia's eyes widened as she remembered the shaking form of her friend. She went to move towards the door, but Kurama stopped her. "I can get you down faster." He moved over to the edge of the roof again.

"We're not going to jump, are we?" Allia asked as she stood beside him. Kurama just raised his eyebrows at her.

"Crazy, thrill-seeking demons..."she muttered weakly as she stared down at the ground. She looked at Kurama and saw that he was trying to hide his laughter. Allia gave him a dirty look before reaching up on her tiptoes and wrapping her arms around his neck. Kurama tensed and his eyes widened in surprise.

"What? If were going down this way, your ass is carrying me. I don't do dare devil shit like this." she said. Kurama relaxed, and chuckled.

"Of course," he said. He reached down and picked her up. Allia tightened her hold around his neck.

"Hope I don't choke you," she mumbled. Allia inhaled to try and calm herself. She was surprised to find that Kurama smelled very strongly of flowers. Kurama chuckled again, before stepping off the edge. Allia shut her eyes tightly, trying with all her might not to scream as the wind rushed past them. Seconds later, Kurama was setting her down. She felt him reach up to remove her arms around his neck. Allia tightened her hold on him, afraid that if she let go before her heartbeat returned to normal, she would collapse onto the ground.

"You can let go now, Allia." Kurama said. She could hear the laughter in his voice.

"Sure we're not dead?" She asked, finally opening her eyes.

"Positive." He said. Allia lowered her arms.

"Um, thanks." She mumbled. He just smiled at her, before gesturing towards the crumbling building in front of them. Allia nodded and they walked over to it.

Kuwabara was walking out of the building he had been in. He saw them and waved. "What're you two doing here?" he asked. Allia looked at how pale his face was. Toguro had apparently frightened all of them.

"We were in the neighborhood." Allia said. She looked across the street, trying to find Yusuke. She saw him step out of what was left of the building, his clothes covered in dust. "Yusuke!" she yelled to him. Yusuke looked up at the sound of his name. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Allia run across the street to him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Allia looked up at him.

"I was worried," she whispered. A very small smile formed on Yusuke's face.

"You worry too much," He looked up at Kuwabara and Kurama, "I'm guessing you guys heard all that?" They nodded.

"We'll have to do a lot of training, if we want any chance of winning the tournament." Kurama said.

"Yeah. Think I'll head up to Genkai's." Yusuke mumbled.

"What about me?" Kuwabara asked.

"You are more then welcome to train with Hiei and I." Kurama told him. Allia looked at the three of them.

"Promise me you'll be careful," she said. Yusuke smiled at her again.

"Hey, aren't we always?" he said.

_No, _Allia thought, _You're not._

* * *

**There you go lovies, chapter 8. I have to say, I actually really like this chapter. Once I started writing it, I couldn't stop. Well, review and let me know what you think! And don't forget to reread the first chapter if you haven't already. See-ya!**


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